ir' 


!i 


AN 


ADDRESS 


UPON 


EDUCATION 


AND 


COMMON  SCHOOLS, 

DELIVERED  AT 

COOPERSTOW,  OTSEGO  COUNTY,  SEPT.  21. 

AND  EEPEATED  BY  REQUEST,  AT 

ni\;^iKJWN,  FULTON  COUNTY,  OCT.  17,  1^3. 


BY  JAMES  IIEMY,  JUN^ 

6T7PERINTKNDENT  OF  COMMON  SCHOOLS  FOX  THE  COUMTT  OF  tr"°r«llfWP 


NEW  YORK; 

A.    S.    BARNES    &    CO. 

1847. 


AN 


ADDRESS 


UPON 


EDUCATION 


AND 


COMMON  SCHOOLS, 

DELIVERED  AT 

COOPERSTOWN,  OTSEGO  COUNTY,  SEPT.  21 

AND   KEPEATED    BY   REQUEST,  AT 

JOHNSTOWN,  FULTON  COUNTY,  OCT.  17,  1843. 


BY  JAMES  HENRY,  JUN. 

■UFEaiNTSNDENT  OF  COMMON  SCHOOLS  FOR  THE  COUXTT  OF  HEREIMEB. 


NEW  YORK: 

A.    S.    BARNES    &    CO. 

1847. 


RECOMMENDATIONS. 


Cherry-Valley,  September  26,  1848. 

r«iK  Sm:— I  need  not  say  that  I  listened  to  your  address  on  Popular  Education,  delivered  at 
tie  Court-House  in  Cooperstown  last  Thursday  evening,  with  high  gratification.  I  trouble 
you  with  this  note  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  my  deep  regret,  that,  when  the  numerous  and 
lespectable  audience  before  whom  it  was  delivered,  by  their  resolution  unanimously  requested 
you  to  furnish  a  copy  for  publication,  you  intimated  some  hesitation  and  doubt  of  the  propriety 
of  granting  that  request.  I  am  quite  sure  that  the  resolution  was  not  adopted  by  the  meeting, 
merely  as  a  compliment  to  the  Orator,  but  that  it  was  elicited  from  a  decided  conviction  that 
its  publication  would  be  extensively  and  permanently  useful. 

I  assure  you,  my  dear  sir,  that  I  have  seldom  heard  or  read  a  more  excellent  compendium  of 
our  Common  School  Laws  than  was  contained  in  your  address.  You  pointed  out,  distinctly 
and  clearly,  the  duties  of  the  various  school  officers;  you  also  exhibited,  in  a  manner  able  and 
lucid,  the  principles  which  ought  to  govern  in  the  selection  of  Text  Books,  the  qualifications 
which  Teachers  ought  to  possess,  and  the  high  duties  they  are  required  to  perform,  accom- 
panied with  an  impressive  and  eloquent  appeal  to  the  public,  and  especially  to  the  philanthro- 
pist,  the  patriot  and  the  Christian,  in  behalf  of  those  seminaries  which' you  denominate  with 
peculiar  propriety.  The  People's  Schools. 

I  am  fully  aware  of  the  ardent  zeal  with  which  you,  for  a  long  time,  have  indefatigably 
devoted  yourself  to  improve  and  perfect  these  institutions  ;  a  zeal  which  has  been,  and  which 
I  trust  will  be  hereafter  attended  with  signal  success  ;  and  I  earnestly  hope  that  you  will  fur. 
nish  another  evidence  of  your  attachment  to  the  great  and  good  cause  by  giving  to  the  publio 
this  address. 

I  am,  with  great  respect,  your  obed't  serv't, 

To  James  Hssbt,  Jun.  Esq.  JABEZ  D.  HAMMOND. 


Having  heard  a  portion  of  Mr.  Henry's  address  read,  and  being  acquainted  with  bis  views 
on  the  subject  of  Common  Schools,  I  cheerfully  unite  with  the  Hon.  Mr.  Hammond  in  express- 
ing the  hope  that  it  may  be  given  to  the  public. 

ALONZO  POTTER. 

Union  College,  Nov.  7,  1S43. 


I  have  listened  with  great  pleasure  to  the  whole  of  Mr.  Henry's  address,  and  fully  concur  in 
the  opinion  expressed  by  Judge  Hammond  and  Professor  Potter,  that  it  ought  to  be  given  to 
the  public. 

S.  YOUNG 

Ballston,  Aon.  9,  16W. 


A  correspondent  of  the  Massachusetts  Common  School  Jonmal  of  January  15, 1844,  says  :— 

"  The  Address,  whose  title  has  been  given  above,  is  so  much  superior  to  ordinary  addresses,  that 
think  the  attention  of  the  people  should  be  directed  to  it,  by  some  notice  in  every  periodical  that  alms 
to  direct  the  pubiic  mind.  I  could  without  difficulty,  make  a  long  article  of  this  notice,  for  there  is 
hardly  a  paragraph  in  the  Address  that  would  not  furnish  a  useful  quotation,  or  a  subject  for  thought 
and  serious  remark :  but  no  such  notice  will  be  attempted,  it  being  far  better  that  those  interested  in 
the  subject  of  the  Address  should  procure  it,  and  read  it,  and  think  it  over,  as  a  whale  ,'  as  a  connected 
view  of  what  education,  school  books,  teachers,  should  be ;  as  an  outline  of  the  plan  on  which  a 
mighty  State  is  now  conducting  one  of  the  most  important  works  ever  undertaken  by  any  government, 
the  instruction  of  event  soul  subject  to  its  testation." 

As  further  evidence  of  the  public  estimation  of  the  value  of  this  Address,  it  may  be  remarked  that 
of  the  two  editions  of  5,000  copies  each,  the  former  was  sold  before  the  work  Issued  from  the  press,  and 
the  latter  in  a  very  few  weeks  after. 


DEDICATION. 


JSP 

L34-I 
194.T 


.jOJ 


fc      To  THE  Hon.  SAMUEL  YOUNG, 

V  STATE  SUPERINTENDENT  OF  COMMON  SCHOOLS  : 

■  Sir — In  dedicating  the  following  address  upon  Education  and  Common  Schools  to  you, 

I  have  no  expectation  that  it  will  be  in  my  power  to  attract  still  further  to  yourself  public 
attention,  or  to  deepen  in  one  single  particular  the  profound  sense  of  obligation  which  is 
every  where  felt  to  you  for  the  noble  services  which  you  have  rendered  the  State  as  head 
of  the  Department  of  Public  Instruction. 
It  will  be  the  agreeable  task  of  the  future  historian  to  declare  to  your  feUow-countrymen, 
e/>      that  you  came  into  the  administration  of  the  Department  in  times  of  almost  unequalled  em- 
uj      barraasment ;  when  an  entirely  new  and  untried  organization  had  just  been  called  into 
*^     being;  an  organization  admirable  in  its  conception,  but  against  which,  for  reasons  assigned, 
>^     you  have  frankly  declared  that  you  were  strongly  prepossessed ;  that  you  had  the  candor  to 
^    examine  that  organization  impartially,  and  the  magnanimity  publicly  to  avow  that  your  first 
OQ    conception  of  it  was  wholly  erroneous ;  that  from  the  moment  you  discovered  its  true  cha- 
-J    racter,  you  embraced  it  with  your  whole  soul,  and  breathed  into  every  part  of  it  a  good  por- 
tion of  that  invincible  and  virtuous  energy  for  which  you  have  been  so  long  and  so  justly 
distinguished ;  that  you  have  exerted  with  untiring  assiduity  all  your  ample  and  varied 
^  „     powers  to  perfect  that  organization  in  all  its  ramifications,  and  to  provide  adequate  securities 
y     for  the  public  moneys,  which  had  been  in  but  too  many  instances  lost  by  the  faithlessness 
C4     of  the  agents  to  whom  their  keeping  had  been  intrusted ;   in  all  of  which  you  have  been 
3     completely  successful. 

"•  One  service  more  and  the  crown  of  your  glory  is  perfect.  A  portion  of  the  community 
appear  to  have  fallen  into  the  sad  and  fatal  misconception,  that  the  C6mmon  School  System 
is  to  become  a  part  and  parcel  of  ordinary  party  arrangements ;  and  that  its  oflfices  are  to 
be  bestowed  as  rewards  of  partisan  exertions.  A  more  lamentable  error  than  this  cannot 
take  root  in  the  minds  of  the  citizens  of  this  State,  and  if  unchecked  and  uncorrected,  this 
noblest  and  proudest  monument  of  our  wisdom  and  patriotism,  will  be  prostrated  in  the 
dust.  To  you,  sir,  the  eyes  of  all  enlightened  and  virtuous  citizens  are  now  directed,  with 
full  hope  and  confident  assurance  that  you  possess  both  the  ability  and  the  will  to  point  out 
this  dangerous  error  to  your  fellow-citizens  with  the  light,  fervor  and  truth  of  the  noon-day 
6un-beam — and  to  make  such  an  irresistible  appeal  to  the  intelligence,  virtue  and  patriotism 
of  the  State  as  will  lead  to  its  prompt  and  permanent  correction.  You,  sir,  can  enunciate 
the  grand  fundamental  truth  in  such  a  form,  as  to  render  practical  in  every  portion  of  the 
\  State,  that  if  there  is  in  each  town  and  each  county  of  this  State,  one  individual  who  is 
more  deeply  impressed  with  a  conviction  of  the  importance  and  necessity  of  a  thorough  and 
general  system  of  instruction — one  more  profoundly  versed  in  the  philosophy  of  Education 
^one  more  ardently  desirous  to  see  the  Common  School  System  perfected,  and  one  who 
will  labor  more  efficiently  and  perseveringly  for  the  attainment  of  that  perfection  than  will 
any  other  person,  no  matter  to  what  sect  or  party  such  a  person  may  belong,  it  is  the  impe- 
rative duty  of  ail  men  and  all  parties  to  see  that  he  is  appointed  a  school  officer,  and  con- 
tinned  as  such  so  long  as  he  performs  the  duties  of  his  office  with  fidelity. 

With  such  confident  hopes  and  high  expectations,  this  address  is  now  most  respectfully 
inscribed  to  you  by  your  humble,  though  sincere,  friend, 

ITS  AUTHOR. 


m: 


397466 


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in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/addressuponeducaOOhenriala 


AN  ADDRESS,  &c. 


Fbiends  and  Fellow  Citizens  : 

We  are  this  evening  met  for  the  purpose  of  contemplating  for  a 
short  time,  one  of  the  most  interesting  subjects  which  can  occupy  our 
thoughts  ;  a  subject  which  has  been  so  long  canvassed,  that  it  is  divested 
of  every  semblance  of  novelty,  yet  still  a  subject  whose  intrinsic  im- 
portance has  justly  claimed  the  profound  attention  of  the  wisest  tnd 
best  of  men  in  all  the  long  ages  of  the  past,  and  will  claim  similar 
attention  of  such  men  in  all  future  time.  Need  I  now  add,  that  edu- 
cation, thorough,  complete,  universal  education,  is  my  theme  ? 

The  term  education  is  here  used  in  its  broadest  and  most  compre- 
hensive sense  ;  and  in  it  I  design  to  include  all  useful  modes  of  train- 
ing the  human  faculties,  and  every  description  of  necessary  knowledge, 
without  which  it  is  utterly  impossible  that  a  man  can  properly  dis- 
charge his  duties  as  an  individual,  as  a  member  of  society,  and  as  a 
citizen  of  a  free  State. 

Upon  the  importance  of  this  subject,  it  would  be  a  work  of  superero- 
gation to  dwell  for  a  single  moment ;  and  I  pass  at  once  to  the  con- 
sideration of  the  means  by  which  this  indispensable  requisite  of  human 
happiness  and  human  progress,  may  be  made  certain  to  every  member 
of  the  community. 

First,  then,  it  must  be  apparent  to  all,  that  if  the  whole  mass  of  the 
people  is  to  be  educated,  nothing  short  of  an  enlightened  and  compre- 
hensive system  of  common  schools,  can  in  any  sense  be  adequate  to 
the  accomplishment  of  such  a  work.  Private  schools,  excellent  as  they 
may  be  in  themselves,  and  invaluable  as  they  often  are  to  individuals, 
never  have,  and  in  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  never  can  embrace  the 
whole  number  of  the  people.  That  the  people  can  be  educated  only  in 
the  people's  schools,  is  a  fundamental  truth  not  yet  sufficiently  under- 
stood, though  the  unrivalled  Common  School  system  of  New- York, 
gives  cheering  evidence  that  this  truth  is  to  some  extent  properly  ap- 
preciated. 

In  the  system  of  Common  Schools,  and  in  that  only,  the  enlightened 
statesman  sees  stability  and  perpetuity  for  our  free  institutions ;  in  that 


ADDRESS,    ETC. 


system,  the  political  seer  beholds  the  harbinger  of  a  more  glorious 
civilization ;  and  in  that  system,  Christian  faith  perceives  the  approach 
of  that  blessed  era  predicted  by  the  prophets,  in  which  '•  the  nations 
shall  le^rn  war  no  more  ;"  and  entire  humanity,  enlightened  by  science 
and  sanctified  by  religion,  shall  possess  the  whole  earth,  in  order,  har- 
mony and  peace. 

The  history  of  the  Common  School  is  a  fit  subject  for  the  deepest 
philosophical  research  and  the  most  accomplished  pen,  and  it  is  ardently 
hoped  that  some  writer,  competent  to  do  justice  to  so  noble  a  theme, 
will  soon  enter  upon  this  work ;  and  wherever  and  whoever  this  writer 
may  be,  I  would  say  to  him,  whether  present  utility  or  future  glory  b« 
his  object,  there  is  no  topic  that  can  give  greater  assurance  than  this, 
that  both  purposes  shall  be  attained. 

Not  to  contemplate  longer,  things  in  promise  or  in  prospect  only,  let 
us  direct  our  attention  to  our  Common  School  system  as  it  now  exists, 
since  the  latest  enactments  of  the  Legislature. 

Experience  had  sometime  since,  demonstrated,  that  our  system  of 
popular  education,  glorious  and  perfect  as  it  is  in  principle,  was  never- 
theless, in  its  practical  details,  in  many  respects,  capitally  defective. 
Its  recent  almost  countless  number  of  officers,  extending  literally  to 
many  thousands,  and  those  officers,  by  the  frequency  of  popular  elec- 
tions, in  a  vast  majority  of  cases,  giving  place  to  successors  before  the 
duties  of  their  offices  could  have  been  completely  learned,  much  less 
thoroughly  performed,  necessarily  precluded  that  perfect  knowledge, 
unity  and  efficiency  of  action,  so  indispensable  to  the  success  of  a  de- 
partment, acting  upon  so  extensive  a  plan  and  comprehending  within 
its  sphere,  such  a  countless  and  varied  array  of  particulars.  The  con- 
sequence was,  that  after  many  years  of  laborious  application,  and  the 
expenditure  of  vast  sums  of  money  on  the  part  of  the  State  and  people, 
a  majority  of  the  community  were  but  very  imperfectly  educated,  while 
great  numbers  were  left,  almost  as  hopelessly  beyond  the  pale  of  in- 
struction as  are  the  untaught  savages  of  the  western  wilderness.  All 
this  too,  while  the  department  itself,  could  not,  by  any  knowledge  offi- 
cially brought  within  its  possession,  determine  whether  it  was  ac- 
complishing the  object  of  its  institution  or  proceeding  in  an  opposite 
direction. 

Various  attempts  to  correct  the  errors  wb  ch  were  seen  and  acknow- 
ledged upon  all  hands,  were  made,  but  ■'ithout  much  success,  until 
the  law  was  enacted  requiring  the  appointment  of  County  Superintend- 
ents.    This  measure,  like  all"  experiments,  was  at  first  destined  to  en- 


ADDRESS,    ETC.  6 


counter  some  opposition,  but  its  effect  has  been  such,  that  within  the 
short  time  it  has  been  in  operation,  the  popular  opinion  has  undergone 
nearly  an  entire  revolution  ;  and  instead  of  being  now  looked  upon  as 
a  measure  of  doubtful  propriety,  and  therefore  unpopular,  it  is  almost 
universally  regarded  as  one  of  the  wisest  and  most  salutary  measures 
that  ever  emanated  from  a  Legislative  Assembly.  Inexperienced  as 
all  these  officers  necessarily  were  at  the  time  of  their  appointment,  im- 
perfect and  inadequate  as  their  first  attempts  to  discharge  their  new 
and  complicated  duties  in  the  very  nature  of  things  must  be,  the  State 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  has  publicly  declared  in  his  last 
annual  report,  that  through  the  agency  of  County  Superintendents, 
masses  of  the  most  useful  and  important  facts,  hitherto  neglected,  have 
been  brought  before  the  Department ;  facts,  too,  which  will  constitute 
the  basis  of  future  and  extensive  reforms.*  Still  the  Department  was, 
in  its  organization,  too  multifarious  and  complicated  to  secure  the  great- 
est practicable  amount  of  good  ;  and  in  conformity  with  the  recommend- 
ations of  the  present  judicious  and  able  head  of  the  Department,  a  vast 
reduction  of  the  number  of  its  officers  was  made  by  the  last  Legislature. 

Instead  of  three  Commissioners  and  two  Inspectors  of  Common 
Schools,  each  town  is  now  restricted  to  the  choice  of  a  single  individual 
called  a  Town  Superintendent,  who  is  to  perform  all  the  duties  hereto- 
fore requiring  the  concurrent  action  of  five  distinct,  and  sometimes  con- 
flicting agents.  So  great  a  reduction  of  the  number  of  officers,  while 
it  will  impose  increased  duties  upon  individuals,  must  simplify  and  ren- 
der intelligent,  to  an  extraordinary  degree,  the  action  of  the  Department. 

Under  its  present  organization,  granting  only  that  proper  persons  be 
selected  to  fill  its  offices,  and  that  they  faithfully  perform  their  duties, 
the  Department  must  necessarily  be  more  intelligent,  more  efficient, 
more  salutary,  and  therefore  more  popular,  than  it  has  ever  before  been. 

To  secure  these  desirable  results,  however,  it  will  be  necessary  that 
Town,  County  and  State  Superintendents  act  in  obedience  to  uniform 
rules,  and  in  perfect  harmony ;  harmony  with  each  other,  and  in  har- 
mony with  that  all-pervading,  all-controlling  public  opinion,  which  has 
long  been,  is  now,  and  for  ages  to  come,  will,  as  we  trust,  be  the  su- 
preme law  of  our  land.  The  Superintendents  must  keep  ever  before 
them,  the  fact  that  they  are  the  counsellors  and  servants,  not  the  dicta- 
tors and  masters  of  the  people.  They  will  do  well  also,  to  bear  con- 
stantly in  mind,  that  sound  republican  maxim  of  the  British  Parlia- 
ment, that  however  wise  one  man  may  be,  the  whole  Parliament  uni- 

*  See  Appendix  A. 


ADDRESS,    ETC. 


led,  is  wiser  than  he.  But  while  due  respect  must  ever  be  paid  to  pop- 
ular opinion,  it  would  be  a  base  betrayal  of  a  high  public  trust  for  any 
Superintendent  to  be  guided  solely  by  that  opinion,  without  any  effort 
on  his  part  to  enlighten  and  reform  it,  in  all  cases  in  which  that  opinion 
is  known  to  be  erroneous.  Let  no  man  be  deceived  on  so  vital,  a  point 
as  this.  The  people  require  the  truth,  and  the  whole  truth,  to  be  intel- 
ligently, clearly  and  respectfully  spoken,  on  the  part  of  all  their  public 
servants,  in  every  department.  No  positive  good  can  be  attained,  no 
permanent  popularity  acquired,  by  departing  from  fact  and  reality,  in 
any  instance  whatever. 

It  will  be  remembered  that,  in  our  definition  of  education,  we  made 
the  term  to  embrace  the  entire  human  being,  physical,  mental,  and 
moral ;  individual,  social,  and  political.  To  all  these  particulars,  and 
in  the  order  in  which  they  have  just  been  named,  we  will  give  a  few 
moments'  consideration. 

The  physical  wants  for  which  ample  provision  should  be  made  in  a 
judicious  system  of  popular  education,  may  be  enumerated  as  follows : 
air,  cleanliness,  exercise,  and  the  general  convenience,  health,  and  com- 
fort of  the  body,  in  the  various  positions  and  attitudes  which  the  pupils 
are  required  to  assume  in  the  execution  of  the  orders  of  the  school. 
All  these  are  matters  of  high  moment,  though,  hitherto  with  few  rare 
exceptions,  they  have  not  received  that  attention  which  their  importance 
requires.  By  the  copious  and  various  instructions,  which  were  with 
great  care  and  labor  prepared  by  the  late  Superintendent,  the  Hon. 
John  C.  Spencer,  and  since  adopted  by  Col.  Young,  which  instructions 
should  be  ever-present  to  the  mind  of  every  person  who  is  charged 
with  the  supervision  of  our  schools,  it  will  be  seen  that  very  minute 
observation  and  accurate  description  of  a  great  number  of  particulars 
are  required  at  his  hands.  There  can  be  no  really  excellent  schools, 
unless  due  attention  be  paid  to  school-houses.  Their  location,  archi- 
tecture, color,  ventilation,  internal  arrangements,  cleanliness,  play- 
grounds, shade-trees,  out-houses,  fuel,  &c.  &c.,  must  each  and  all  re- 
ceive due  and  patient  consideration.  The  requisites  of  a  good  school- 
house  and  its  appropriate  apparatus,  are  a  study  worthy  of  a  philoso- 
pher, and  must  ever  be  subjects  of  persevering  investigation  to  every 
person  studious  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the  schools. 

Having  made  all  proper  provisions  for  the  health,  exercise  and  com- 
fort of  the  body,  we  must  next  provide  a  suitable  apparatus  for  the 
development  and  discipline  of  the  mind.  Text-books  for  the  use  of 
the  schools,  will  now  be  the  principal  subjects  for  our  consideration. 


ADDRESS,    ETC 


To  determine  whether  books  are  suitable  to  be  used  in  the  schools,  we 
must  first  inquire  whether  the  principles  they  contain  are  true,  and  the 
sentiments  inculcated  by  them  just ;  and,  next,  whether  their  lessons 
are  arranged  in  conformity  to  the  fundamental  law  of  mental  develop- 
ment. As  this  is  a  topic  of  great  importance,  and  by  reason  of  the 
conflicting  views  and  interests  of  authors  and  publishers,  necessarily 
encumbered  by  almost  insuperable  difHculties,  I  trust  I  shall  be  par- 
doned for  dwelling  upon  it  at  considerable  length. 

If  it  be  conceded,  as  I  think  it  readily  will  be  on  all  hands,  that  the 
human  powers  in  their  first  exercises  are  weak  and  imperfect,  and  that 
they  are  invariably  carried  forward  from  weakness  to  strength,  by 
slow  and  regular  gradations,  it  must  also  be  conceded  that  all  proper 
text-books  must  be  arranged  in  strict  conformity  to  this  universal  law 
of  mental  progression.  Such  books  must  first  present  the  elements  of 
knowledge,  next,  the  simplest  combination  of  those  elements;  thus  on, 
step  by  step,  to  the  highest  combinations,  the  lessons  always  increa- 
sing in  difficulty  in  exact  proportion  to  the  learner's  increase  in  ability. 
This  general  law  has  long  been  acknowledged  by  authors  and  compi- 
lers ;  but,  while  all  have  professed  to  know  the  law,  iew  have  prac- 
tically obeyed  it  in  the  construction  of  their  works.  The  public,  how- 
ever, ought  rigorously  to  exact  unqualified  obedience  to  this  law  on  tfie 
part  of  every  writer  of  text-books  for  the  use  of  the  Common  Schools. 
No  matter  what  department  of  study  an  author  may  select  for  his  la- 
bors, from  simple  to  complex,  by  regular  gradations,  is  the  universal 
rule :  philology  begins  with  the  alphabet,  and  mathematics  commences 
with  unity. 

Text-books  should,  also,  have  something  beyond  correct  arrangement 
of  lessons  to  recommend  them.  Mere  arrangement,  though  perfect  as 
pure  science  itself,  can  never  excuse  the  least  impurity  of  thought,  or 
the  slightest  indelicacy  of  language.  If  text-books  contain  aught  that 
tends  to  pervert  the  taste  or  corrupt  the  morals  of  youth,  they  ought 
to  be  promptly  excluded  from  the  schools.  Patriotism,  or  love  of  coun-^ 
try,  ought  to  be  inculcated  by  the  lessons  read  in  our  schools.  If  not 
known  to  all,  it  is,  at  least,  to  the  observing,  that  the  literature  of  every 
country  reflects  its  institutions.  This  is  a  subject  worthy  of  profound 
attention.  The  influence  of  popular  literature  is  much  greater  than  is 
generally  imagined.  A  close  observer  of  human  affairs,  once  remar- 
ked, that,  provided  he  could  make  the  songs,  he  cared  not  who  made 
the  laws  of  a  people.  If  we  allow  foreigners,  the  opponents  of  a  re- 
public, to  form  our  minds  as  well  as  fashion  our  garments,  is  it  not 


ADDRESS,     ETC 


reasonable  to  suppose  that  they  will  mould  the  former,  as  well  as  shape 
the  latter,  after  their  own  peculiar  models.  It  has  been  well  said,  in 
reference  to  ours  and  the  mother  country,  that  "dependance  can  never 
cease,  if  one  nation  is  always  to  teach  and  the  other  always  to  learn. 
If  we  can  only  be  wise  when  they  are  wise,  we  must  also  be  foolish 
if  they  are  foolish,  dote  when  they  dote,  and  die  when  they  die." 

The  convenience  of  the  pupil,  and  the  pecuniary  interest  of  the  pa- 
rent or  guardian,  require  that  text-books,  in  almost  every  department 
of  study,  should  be  written  in  regular  successive  numbers ;  and  the  ju- 
dicious and  orderly  construction  of  books  upon  such  a  plan  renders  it  very 
important  that  these  successive  numbers  should  proceed  from  the  same 
hand.  This  truth  is  also  generally  recognised,  and  many  series,  by  diffe- 
rent authors,  have  been  placed  before  the  public.  It  is  believed  that 
very  few,  if  any  of  these  series,  possess  every  desirable  requisite  ; 
yet  that  some  of -them  approximate  much  nearer  to  proper  standard 
works  than  do  others,  is  a  truth  that  will  at  once  present  itself  to  every 
person  who  is  at  all  conversant  with  the  powers  and  operations  of  the 
human  mind.  It  should  be  the  constant  aim,  and  imperative  duty  of 
all  persons,  charged  with  the  selection  and  recommendation  of  text 
books  for  the  use  of  the  Common  Schools,  always  to  fix  upon  the  high- 
est standards  of  excellence  in  the  different  departments  of  study. 

The  most  important  book,  and  usually  the  first  one  in  which  chil- 
dren are  taught  in  the  Common  Schools,  is  the  Spelling-Book.  A  good 
work  of  this  kind  ought,  among  others,  to  possess  the  following  requi- 
sites :  First,  it  should  embrace  the  elements  of  the  language,  arrang- 
ed in  a  scientific  order.  Second,  it  should  include  the  words  of  most 
common  use  in  the  language.  There  is  a  great  number  of  words  in 
all  languages,  which  may  he-compared  to  small  change  in  the  moneta- 
ry system :  the  cent,  five-cent,  ten-cent,  quarter,  half-dollar  and  dollar 
coins,  are  wanted  every  day  and  every  hour,  while  the  larger  deno- 
minations are  seldom  used.  So  in  language  ;  there  are  certain  words 
'  which  must  be  used  every  day  and  every  hour  ;  words,  without  the  use 
of  which,  it  is  hardly  possible  to  form  a  single  sentence.  Every  Spel- 
ling-Book ought  to  contain  this  class  of  perpetually  recurring  words. 
Third,  a  good  Spelling-Book  will  contain  a  correct  classification  of 
words.  Words  should  be  classed  according  to  the  sounds  of  the  let- 
ters and  combinations  of  letters  of  which  they  are  composed.  Whoever 
has  examined  our  language  with  attention,  need  not  be  told  that  its 
orthography  abounds  in  anomalies.  A  letter  and. a  union  of  letters 
have  not  unfrequently  three  or  more  distinct  sounds  ;  thus,  ou  in  one 


ADDRESS, ETC.  9 


place  sounds  like  ow,  as  in  tkou^ ;  in  another,  like  oo,  as  in  tour ;  and, 
in  a  third  like  u  short,  as  in  rough.  There  are  hundreds  of  similar  ano- 
malies :  they  are  imperfections  inseparable  from  the  language,  at  least 
such  is  the  common  opinion,  and  all  that  can  be  done  to  obviate  the 
difficulties  and  perplexities  of  the  learner,  necessarily  arising  from 
these  anomalies,  is  to  give  them  a  correct  classification;  that  is,  to 
bring  together  in  one  table  or  column,  and  under  proper  marks  of  nota- 
tion, Words  in  which  letters  and  combinations  have  one  sound  ;  and  in 
another  table  or  column,  those  words  in  which  they  haVe  a  different 
sound.  Fourth,  a  Spelling-Book  should  be  a  perfect  transcript  from  the 
Dictionary  which  accompanies  it,  so  that  if  any  doubt  arises  respecting 
the  spelling  or  pronunciation  of  a  word,  that  doubt  may  be  immediately 
removed  by  referring  to  the  Dictionary. 

The  New- York  State  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Know- 
ledge, by  -whose  patient  and  persevering  examination  of  text  books  the 
cause  of  education  has  been  greatly  benefited,  have  arrived  at  the  con- 
clusion that  of  the  one  hundred  and  twenty  Spelling-Books  extant, 
purporting  to  exhibit  a  correct  arrangement  of  the  elements  of  our  lan- 
guage, two  only  make  any  near  approaches  to  proper  standard  works. 
Probably  no  work  of  this  kind  now  before  the  public,  is  more  generally 
correct  than  Cobb's  New  Spelling  Book. 

Of  the  three  hundred  and  fifty  Grammars  of  our  language,  one 
hundred  and  sixty-four  English,  one  hundred  and  eighty-six  American, 
the  examining  committee  of  that  society  are  of  opinion  that  three  only, 
one  British  and  two  American,  can  be  properly  regarded  as  approxima- 
tions to  standard  works.  Of  the  American  Grammars,  Brown's  and 
Bullions'  are  generally  regarded  as  the  most  correct  and  valuable. 
Bullions'  being  the  latest,  and  forming  one  number  of  a  grammatical 
series,  embracing  the  Greek,  Latin  and  English  languages,  is  deemed 
by  many  persons,  whose  judgment  and  acquirements  are  entitled  to 
high  consideration,  the  best  work  of  its  kind. 

Of  all  studies,  grammar,  properly  understood,  is  the  most  important. 
It  is  language  which  opens  to  us  the  treasures  of  the  past — if  is  lan- 
guage which  makes  known  to  us  the  progress  of  the  present,  and  by 
language  only,  can  we  address  the  fature.  It  is  language  which  has 
placed  man  at  the  head  of  all  earthly  intelligences ;  and  without  this, 
he  would  soon  sink  to  the  level  of  the  brutal  herd.  Let  none  be  re- 
pelled from  this  most  useful  study  by  the  scholastic  nonsense  and  tech- 
nical jargon  with  which  this  noble  science  has  been  too  long  encum- 
bered.    Let  it  be  always  remembered,  that  the  principles  oi  language, 


10  ADDBBSS.ETC. 


like  those  of  every  other  department  of  knowledge,  have  been  fixed 
by  the  Creator  himself;  and,  like  those  laws,  are  characterized  and 
recommended  by  a  divine  simplicity  and  perfect  order  that  render  a 
knowledge  of  them  easily  accessible  to  every  person  to  the  extent  that 
his  duty  requires  their  use. 

A  dissertation  upon  grammar  would  not  be  in  accordance  with  the 
expectations  of  the  present  occasion,  and  I  take  leave  of  this  topic, 
with  the  expression  of  my  full  confidence,  that  when  our  present  gram- 
matical babel  has  been  fully  and  freely  subjected  to  the  correcting  and 
reforming  action  of  the  philosophical  mind,  the  same  patient  induction 
and  rigid  analysis  which  translated  from  the  mists  and  mazes  of  alche- 
my the  exact  science  of  chemistry,  will,  in  due  time,  present  us  with  a 
simple,  harmonious  and  exact  system  of  grammar,  which  will  enable 
the  student  readily  to  master  the  construction  of  his  native  tongue,  and 
to  wield  that  tongue  with  energy  and  precision. 

In  the  department  of  arithmetic  and  mathematics,  the  works  of  Pro- 
fessor Davies,  of  the  United  States  Military  Academy,  at  West  Point,  ex 
tending  by  regular  andscientific  gradations  from  the  elements  of  arithme- 
tical calculation  to  the  highest  department  of  pure  mathematics,  are  pro- 
bably unsurpassed  by  anything  of  their  kind  which  has  appeared  in  this 
or  any  other  country.  It  is  a  very  general  opinion  among  the  most 
competent  judges  that  these  works  are  better  calculated  to  advance  the 
student  in  his  progress,  and  to  give  him  a  regular,  connected  and  intel- 
ligent mastery  of  this  important  department  of  science  than  any  other 
works  now  before  the  public.  The  series  embraces  several  separate 
volumes,  each  forming,  as  far  as  it  extends,  a  complete  treatise  in  it- 
self. These  works  are  eminently  entitled  to  the  attentive  considera- 
tion of  all  persons  who  are  duly  impressed  with  the  importance  and  ne- 
cessity of  fixing  upon  uniform  standard  text-books  for  the  Cemmon 
Schools.  I  trust  the  day  is  not  far  distant  in  which  these  works  will 
be  found  in  all  the  schools  in  this  State  and  in  the  Union.  Should  any 
persons  desire  a  more  extended  common  school  course  than  is  contain- 
ed in  tlje  First  Lessons  and  Common  School  Arithmetic,  Mr.  Perkins' 
Higher  Arithmetic  is  happily  adapted  to  be  connected  with  them,  and 
when  so  united,  they  would  form  a  series  that  would,  as  it  appears  to  me, 
leave  little  further  to  be  added,  or  even  desired.  It  is  not  by  authority, 
by  recommendation  and  puffing,  that  books  can  be  much  longer  sus- 
tained before  the  public.  The  time  is  near  when  all  works  will  be 
tested  by  the  severest  scrutiny  and  most  rigid  analysis,  and  whenever 


ADDRESS,    ETC.  11 


and  wherever  books  are  so  tried,  I  venture  the  prediction  that  there 
will  be  a  unanimous  verdict  in  favor  of  Professor  Da  vies'  works. 

In  the  Geographical  department  there  are  great  numbers  of  text- 
books, and  many  of  them  works  of  decided  merit ;  but  I  think  Mitch- 
ell's extensive  and  apparently  perfect  series,  is  justly  entitled  to  prefer- 
ence over  all  its  numerous  competitors.  This  series,  extending  from 
the  rudiments,  and  embracing  in  its  ample  course  his  numerous  and 
incomparable  outline  maps,  seems  to  leave  but  a  single  further  wish  in 
relation  to  this  most  useful  and  interesting  department  of  study ;  and 
that  wish  is,  that  these  works  may,  as  soon  as  may  be  practicable,  be 
placed  in  all  the  Common  Schools. 

Mitchell's  Outline  Maps  are,  in  my  judgment,  by  far  the  most  valu- 
able of  the  apparatus  which  has  yet  been  prepared  for  the  use  of  the 
schools.  The  proprietor  of  these  maps  is  now  getting  them  up  in  two 
divisions,  so  that  a  half  set  may  be  purchased  by  the  smallest  districts ; 
and  by  this  arrangement,  in  two  years  only,  complete  sets  may  be  pro- 
cured for  all  the  schools  in  the  State. 

While  upon  the  subject  of  apparatus,  I  will  respectfully  call  your 
attention  to  a  map  showing  chemical  composition  of  all  the  metals,  pre- 
pared by  Dr.  James  Hadley,  M.  D.,  then  Chemical  Professor  in  the 
Western  College  of  Physicians  at  Fairfield,  in  the  county  of  Herki- 
mer. I  regard  this  as  a  very  valuable  work,  and  it  might  be  placed  in 
all  the  schools  at  an  expense  merely  nominal. 

In  the  department  of  reading  and  elocution  there  are  more  text-books 
than  in  any  other,  many  of  them  good  works  too;  but  I  think  the 
course  of  Lyman  Cobb,  A.  M.,  since  his  latest  revision,  is  superior  to 
that  of  any  other  author,  for  giving  pupils  critical  accuracy  in  the  use 
of  their  language  ;  and  as  this  is  the  principal  object  of  text-books,  it 
appears  to  me  that  this  consideration  alone  is  amply  sufficient  for  giving 
to  these  works  a  preference  over  any  of  their  numerous  competitors. 
This  course  embraces  Juvenile  Headers  numbers  one,  two  and  three, 
a  sequel  to  Juvenile  Readers  and  Cobb's  North  American  Reader. 
Other  books  may  possess  some  desirable  requisites  in  a  higher  degree 
than  do  these  works,  but  as  a  whole,  I  am  of  decided  opinion  that  a 
great  majority  of  competent  judges  would  decide  in  favor  of  Cobb's 
books. 

Porter's  Rhetorical  Reader  contains  the  best  explanation  and  illus- 
tration of*the  principles  of  good  reading  that  I  have  ever  seen,  and  I 
respectfully  recommend  to  both  Town  and  County  Superintendents,  to 
make  this  Reader  their  text-book  in  the  examination  of  teachers  in  this 


12  ADDRESS,    ETC. 


department.     It  is  a  work  which  might  be  studied  and  read  with  sig- 
nal advantage  by  both  teachers  and  pupils  in  all  the  Common  Schools. 

Hale's  Premium  History  is  a  work  of  extended  and  deserved  popu- 
larity. Perhaps  no  better  compendium  of  the  history  of  the  United 
States,  has  yet  been  written  ;  and  its  solid  merit  will  probably  long  re- 
tain for  it  what  it  now  enjoys,  a  prominent  place  in  all  the  schools  of 
the  country. 

As  a  book  of  reading  exercises,  however,  Mrs.  Emma  Willard's 
Abridgment  of  her  History  of  the  United  States,  is  greatly  superior  to 
Hale's  work,  while  her  geographical,  chronological  and  statistical  facts 
are  stated  with  great  accuracy  and  clearness.  How  so  dry  a  subject 
can  be  invested  with  all  the  charms  of  works  of  the  imagination  while 
the  thread  of  historical  facts  is  never  broken,  the  History  of  Mrs.  Wil- 
lard  can  alone  explain.  Both  Mrs.  Willard's  History  and  its  Abridg- 
ment are  works  of  unrivalled  merit,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  Abridg- 
ment will  be  generally  read  by  classes  in  the  schools,  and  her  larger 
work  procured  for  all  the  District  Libraries. 

Palmer's  Moral  Instructer,  in  four  parts,  is  a  work  which  has  been  re- 
cently prepared  by  its  able  author,  and  is  designed  to  develop  and 
bring  into  virtuous  activity  the  moral  principles.  Such  a  work  ap- 
pears to  be  eminently  needed,  and  this  author  has  accurately  conceir- 
ed  his  subject,  and  clothed  his  views  in  a  style  which  will  be  forever 
attractive  to  juvenile  learners.  The  reputation  of  the  author  of  the 
prize  essay  upon  education  is  fully  sustained  in  this,  his  latest  work. 

Wedgewood's  Revised  Statutes  of  the  State  of  New-York  appears 
to  be  a  valuable  publication.  This  little  manual,  in  the  form  of  ques-  ' 
tions  and  answers,  will  constitute  an  excellent  preparatory  exercise 
to  a  more  extended  course  of  reading  or  studying  the  constitution  and 
laws  of  the  State,  subjects  with  which  every  voter  to  a  certain  extent 
ought  to  have  a  practical  acquaintance. 

Peter  Parley's  extensive  works,  including  his  Histories  and  Maga- 
zine for  juvenile  learners,  deserve  the  attentive  and  candid  examina- 
tion of  parents,  teachers,  and  the  friends  of  education  generally.  They 
are,  probably,  as  well  calculated  to  interest  children  and  youth,  and 
thus  produce  a  taste  for  reading,  as  any  books  of  their  kind  that  have 
yet  issued  from  the  press;  while  the  knowledge  they  impart  is  gene- 
rally of  a  useful  and  practical  character,  and  their  moral  ter^ency,  so 
far  as  I  have  observed  it,  is  without  exception  good.  These  works 
may  be  used  with  advantage  in  both  the  Common  Schools  and  District 
Libraries. 


A.DDRESS,ETC.  J[8 

— T ;  ;  ; • 

The  book  that  is  most  eminently  needed  in  our  Common  Schools, 

and  of  which  they  are  now  almost  universally  destitute,  is  a  suitable 
Dictionary  of  our  language.  The  quarto  and  octavo  editions  of  Web- 
ster are  too  bulky  and  expensive  for  common  use,  while  his  small  work 
is  so  much  abridged,  both  in  the  number  of  its  words  and  their  defini- 
tions, that  it  is  of  comparatively  little  value  to  the  student.  The  book 
of  this  description,  which  I  think  would  be  most  useful  in  the  Common 
Schools  and  in  families,  is  Worcester's  Comprehensive  Dictionary. 
This  book  contains  a  great  variety  of  necessary  information,  not  to  be 
found  in  any  other  work  of  its  kind,  besides  a  more  numerous  cata- 
logue of  words  and  more  extensive  definitions,  than  are  to  be  found  in 
any  other  book  of  its  price  with  which  I  am  acquainted.  This  Dic- 
tionary is  recommended  for  the  use  of  the  Common  Schools  in  Massa- 
chusetts, and  of  its  merits,  the  accomplished  Secretary  of  the  Board  of 
Education  in  that  State,  expresses  himself  in  the  following  manner : 
"  It  is  the  best  Dictionary  extant  for  schools." 

The  department  of  penmanship  has  hitherto  been  very  much  neg- 
lected. Seldom  indeed  do  we  find  any  teacher,  male  or  female,  who 
possesses  competent  skill  to  instruct  in  this  most  useful  art.  The  works 
which  have  been  published  upon  this  subject,  so  far  as  I  have  been  ac- 
quainted with  them,  have  not  in  most  instances  appeared  to  me  to  be 
well  adapted  to  supply  the  deficiencies  of  teachers.  I  am  of  opinion 
that  Root's  System  of  Philosophical  Penmanship  is  one  of  the  best 
works  of  its  kind.  It  appears  to  be  more  perfectly  adapted  to  the 
fundamental  principle  of  progressive  development  than  any  other  work 
with  which  I  am  acquainted.  I  hope  its  merits  will  be  fairly  tested  by 
actual  experiment,  and  when  so  tried,  I  doubt  not  that  it  will  be  found  a 
scientific  and  valuable  work.  Writing  is  almost  purely  a  mechanical 
art,  and  may,  without  doubt,  be  generally  taught  with  far  greater  suc- 
cess than  it  has  heretofore  beea. 

Here,  in  conformity  to  usage,  by  far  too  general,  the  course  of  stu- 
dies pursued  in  the  Common  Schools,  has  been  closed.  Reading, 
Writing,  Grammar,  Geography  and  Arithmetic,  and  these  elementary 
branches,  in  most  cases  but  very  imperfectly  and  inadequately  taught, 
have  long  constituted  the  whole  circle  of  arts  and  sciences,  taught  in 
the  people's  schools.  May  it  not  be  reasonably  hoped,  in  this  reforming 
age,  that  this  meager  catalogue  will  be  liberally  extended  ?  May  not 
Book-keeping,  the  elements  of  Anatomy  and  Physiology,  Natural  and 
Moral  Philosophy,  Chemistry,  Agricultare,  Mechanics,  Political  Econ- 
4my,  Drawing,  Architecture  and  Music,  be  included  in  the  prescribed 

2 


14  ,      ADDRESS,    ETC. 


course  of  Common  School  studies  ?  The  question  has  been  already, 
in  numerous  instances,  affirmatively  and  successfully  answered,  and 
it  is  ardently  hoped  and  confidently  expected,  that  at  no  distant  day, 
instruction  will  be  given  in  all  these  departments  of  science,  together 
with  their  kindred  branches,  and  that,  too,  in  the  Common  Schools.* 

Before  taking  leave  of  this  subject,  allow  me  to  call  your  attention  to 
the  importance  of  having  uniform  text-books.  That  the  present  end- 
less variety  of  these  works  is  one  of  the  greatest  evils  connected  with 
the  Common  Schools,  the  cause  of  unnecessary  expense  to  parents, 
needless  labor  and  perplexity  to  teachers,  and  of  great  delay  and  dis- 
couragement to  the  learners,  is  the  unanimous  opinion  of  all  persons 
who  have  fairly  examined  this  matter.  But  while  the  magnitude  of 
the  evil  is  obvious,  its  remedy  is  not  so  apparent.  If  the  introductior. 
of  texi-'books  is  left,  solely,  in  the  hands  of  authors  and  publishers, 
this  evil  will  always  exist ;  and  yet  every  attempt  on  the  part  of  the 
public  to  remove  it,  without  due  respect  to  the  interest  of  the  trade, 
will,  in  all  human  probability,  prove  utterly  unsuccessful. 

If  any  method  can  be  devised  by  which  the  pursuit  of  private  inte- 
rest can  be  made  to  promote  the  public  good,  we  may  then  reasonably 
expect  that  this  great  evil  will,  in  due  time,  be  removed.  I  am  of 
opinion  that  such  a  method  may  be  devised ;  indeed,  measures  have 
been  already  adopted  in  many  places,  to  secure  the  uniformity  which 
all  admit  to  be  so  desirable  and  necessary. 

Let  teachers  and  all  other  persons  interested  in  the  welfare  and  pro- 
gress of  the  Common  Schools,  thoroughly  and  impartially  examine  and 
compare  the  text-books  now  in  most  common  use ;  and  let  the  real 
merits  of  each  work  be  fairly  staled  ;  let  the  object  of  the  examination 
be  to  ascertain  the  truth,  and  not  to  bias  public  opinion  in  favor  of,  or 
against  particular  works — and  a  surprising  coincidence  and  harmony 
of  views  will  soon  be  developed,  which  will  speedily  open  the  way  for 
effecting  all  desirable  changes.  Let  these  examinations  be  first  made, 
in  all  instances,  in  town  associations  ;  let  the  works  recommended  by 
the  towns,  be  re-examined  in  the  county  associations,  and  let  the  re- 
sults of  the  county  examinations  be  imbodied  and  afterwards  reviewed 
by  the  State  Convention  of  County  Superintendents  ;  and  lastly,  let 
their  proceedings  be  thoroUghl}'  canvassed  by  the  State  Superintendent. 
By  such  an  arrangement,  the  merits  of  books  would  be  ascertained, 
public  opinion  harmonized  and  concentrated,  the  imperfect  works  now 
in  the  schools,  whenever  new  purchases  became  necessarj',  would  give 

'^  Appendix  6. 


ADDRESS,     ETC.  15 


place  to  those  approved  by  the  public,  and  in  a  few  years  uniform 
books  in  the  towns,  counties  and  State  would  be  secured,  and  the 
whole  reformation  accomplished,  without  injustice  to  authors  or  pre- 
judice to  booksellers.  By  such  means,  the  best  works  would  be  placed 
in  all  the  schools,  while  the  aggregate  expense  for  books  would  be 
reduced  at  least  one-third. 

Thus  far,  we  have  restricted  our  views  to  physical  and  mental  wants, 
and  to  provisions  for  their  supply;  but  capitally  and  fatally  defective 
will  all  systems  of  education  be  found  that  do  not  arouse  and  bring 
into  virtuous  activity  the  moral  principles  of  our  nature.  An  individual 
may  possess  perfect  physical  and  mental  faculties,  and  these  may  be 
trained  and  disciplined  to  the  highest  possible  degree  ;  yet,  if  his  moral 
faculties  are  neglected,  he  will  be  miserable  in  himself,  and  a  scourge 
and  curse  upon  community.  Characters  of  this  description  are  too 
common  in  history  to  render  the  designation  of  individual  instances 
necessary.  It  has  been  the  great  error  of  all  preceding  times  ;  and  it 
is,  in  fact,  the  most  alarming  indication  of  the  present  age,  to  over- 
estimate mental,  and  to  underrate  moral  excellence.  This  fact  will 
explain  why,  in  the  histor)-^  of  the  world,  we  meet  with  so  many  Alex- 
anders, so  many  Cesars,  but  so  few  Washingtons.  It  is  to  the  action 
of  intellect,  uncontrolled  by  moral  principle,  that  we  are  to  attribute 
nearly  all  the  social  and  political  evils  which  have  ever  existed  in  the 
world.  It  was  to  this  cause,  more  than  to  all  others,  that  we  owe  the 
pressure  and  embarrassments  -of  the  trying  period  through  which  we 
have  recently  passed.  .  To  correct,  then,  this  palpable,  this  bold  defi- 
ance of  the  Creator's  moral  laws,  is  the  imperious  duty  of  the  men  of 
our  times.  Our  Common  Schools  must  not  only  teach  the  truths  of 
science ;  they  must  also  explain  the  principles  and  enforce  the  practice 
of  sound  morality. 

If  the  sphere  of  the  Common  Schools  is  so  extensive  ;  if  these  insti- 
tutions are  designed  to  make  our  children  practically  acquainted  with 
the  physical,  mental  and  moral  laws  of  their  being ;  to  impart  a  tho- 
rough knowledge  of  individual,  social  and  political  duties ;  to  illumi- 
nate the  mind,  correct  the  taste,  and  form  the  manners ;  to  inspire  the 
soul  with  unconquerable  aversion  to  all  that  is  low,  grovelling,  dishon- 
orable, and  depraved  ;  to  awaken  in  it  perpetual  aspirations  after  all 
that  is  useful,  great,  glorious  and  good ;  in  one  word,  to  form  their  whole 
character  upon  such  a  model  as  will  fit  them  to  fill  with  honor  to  them 
jselves  and  with  advantage  to  their  country,  any  and  every  station  in 
which  duty  shall  require  them  to  act ;  is  it  not  apparent,  obvious,  pal- 


16  ADDRESS,    ETC, 


pable  to  all.  that  none  but  accomplished  and  experienced  masters  can 
perform  a  work  like  this  ?  Yet,  in  practice,  how  strangely  have  we 
lost  sight  of  this  self-evident  truth  ?  How  often  have  we  placed  our 
Common  Schools  in  charge  of  persons,  so  unlike  competent  masters, 
that  they  were  ignorant  of  the  very  elements  of  their  duty.  Such  an 
error  was  too  glaring  in  itself,  too  fatal  in  its  effects,  to  remain  long 
unobserved.  It  is  now  every  where  seen,  felt,  and  acknowledged,  and 
laudable  attempts  to  correct  it  have  already  been  made. 

To  secure  that  high  grade  of  qualifications,  literary,  scientific  and 
educational,  so  indispensably  necessary  to  the  success  of  the  Common 
Schools,  it  was,  sometime  since,  perceived  that  some  legal  provision 
for  the  education  and  thorough  preparation  of  teachers  must  be  made. 
Teachers'  Departments,  in  sixteen  academies,  two  in  each  Senatorial 
District,  were  established ;  these  departments  have  been  tested  by  se- 
veral years'  experience,  and,  while  they  have  been  productive  of  much 
good,  it  was  nevertheless  believed  that  a  greater  good  would  be  at- 
tained by  concentrating  the  funds,  and  more  amply  endowing  a  smaller 
number  of  institutions.  In  conformity,  therefore,  with  this  opinion,  the 
Regents  of  the  University  propose  to  designate  four  academies,  which 
are  hereafter  to  receive  the  funds  that  have  hitherto  been  distributed 
among  the  sixteen  academies  under  the  provisions  of  the  former  law. 
In  the  four  academies  which  the  Eegents  may  designate,  it  is  expected 
that  the  education  of  Common  School  Teachers  will  become  the  prin- 
cipal business. 

This  alteration  will,  no  doubt,  be  found,  in  practice,  a  great  improve- 
ment upon  the  former  system.  Still,  it  must  be  apparent  to  all,  that 
some  farther  provisions  must  be  made  before  all  our  schools  can  be 
supplied  with  properly  qualified  teachers.  In  some  counties,  teachers' 
classes  have  been  formed  in  the  academies  ;  in  others,  temporary  nor- 
mal schools  have  been  opened,  both  of  which  will  have  a  direct  ten- 
dency to  elevate  the  character  of  the  Common  School  Teachers,  and 
should,  therefore,  be  countenanced  and  encouraged  by  the  active  co- 
operation of  all  the  friends  of  popular  education. 

Our  present  law,  by  instituting  three  grades  of  qualification  in  the 
teacher's  profession,  has  nearly  assimilated  it  to  the  other  professions, 
and  has  opened  a  fair  way  to  a  young  gentleman  or  a  young  lady,  for 
securing  a  competence  and  a  respectable  position  in  society,  without 
abandoning  this  most  useful  and  important  of  all  the  departments  of 
honorable  labor.  Let  no  town  or  county  certificate  of  qualifications  be 
granted,  until  after  thorough  and  impartial  examination  of  the  appli- 


ADDRESS,    ETC.  17 


cants,  and  the  exemplification  of  the  most  indubitable  testimonials  of 
good  moral  character.  I  would  respectfully  suggest  the  propriety  of ' 
having  applications,  in  all  cases,  first  made  to  Town  Superintendents : 
that  county  licenses  shall,  hereafter,  be  granted  only  to  persons  of 
superior  literary  and  scientific  attainments,  and  who  possess  more  than 
ordinary  aptitude  in  the  business  of  instruction,  and  great  talent  in  the 
government  and  general  management  of  a  school.f 

State  certificates  are  granted  upon  the  recommendation  of  County 
Superintendents ;  they  are  intended  to  be  evidence  of  the  highest  order 
of  educational  talent,  and  very  superior  scientific  and  literary  attain- 
ments. Great  caution  and  vigilance  ought  to  be  exercised  in  making 
recommendations  of  candidates  for  State  Licenses,  or  the  rioble  aim  of 
the  law  will  be  defeated.  I  would  respectfully  recommend  the  forma- 
tion of  a  board  of  examiners,  to  consist  of  any  given  number  of  the 
most  competent  friends  of  education  in  each  county,  whose  duty  it  shall 
be  to  act  in  concert  with  the  County  Superintendent,  whenever  can" 
didates  for  State  certificates  are  to  be  examined? 

For  the  purpose  of  affording  the  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools 
the  means  of  constant  and  regular  communication  with  all  the  various 
school  officers  throughout  the  State,  and  also  for  the  purpose  of  keep- 
ing the  inhabitants  of  school  districts  informed  of  all  the  best  and  most 
practicable  plans  for  the  improvement  of  the  schools,  the  State,  by  its 
liberal  and  judicious  subscription  for  the  District  School  Journal,  has 
established  upon  a  permanent  foundation,  one  of  the  most  popular  and 
useful  educational  journals  of  the  present  times.  This  paper  is  the 
regular  organ  of  the  Department ;  in  it  are  published  all  the  laws  rela- 
ting to  the  Common  Schools,  with  their  expositions,  and  the  decisions 
of  the  State  Superintendent.  Most  of  the  improvements  and  disco- 
yeries  in  educational  science,  both  in  Europe  and  America,  are  also 
published  in  the  Journal,  while  its  columns  are  still  farther  enriched  by 
the  discussion  of  many  of  the  most  interesting  topics  connected  with 
popular  education,  by  some  of  the  most  intelligent  and  able  writers  of 
the  day.  To  give  greater  attraction  and  usefulness  to  the  Journal,  the" 
editor  has  recently  commenced  the  publication  of  a  valuable  and  in- 
teresting Miscellany  for  j^outh,  which  cannot  prove  otherwise  than 
profitable  and  entertaining  to  a  vast  number  of  juvenile  readers.  This 
Miscellany,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  read  by  the  higher  classes  in  the 
schools,  in  the  same  way  that  the  miscellany  of  the  Massachusetts 
Common  School  Journal  is  read  in  the  schools  of  that  ancient  and  ven- 
erable commonwealth.     Every  school  officer,  every  school  teacher  and 


18.  ADDBBSSjKTC. 


every  family  throughout  the  State,  ought  to  take  at  least  one  copy 
each  of  this  invaluable  paper.  Twelve  numbers  a  year,  on  fine  paper, 
fair  type,  and  sixteen  double  column  octavo  pages  each,  are  afforded 
for  the  trifling  expense  of  fifty  cents.  One  copy  of  the  Journal  for 
each  school  district,  is  paid  for  by  the  State  and  forwarded  by  mail. 
Trustees  are  by  law  required  to  pay  the  postage  on  these  papers,  take 
them  from  the  office,  preserve  them,  and,  at  the  end  of  each  year,  to 
have  them  neatly  and  substantially  bound,  and  placed  in  the  District 
Library. 

While  upon  the  subject  of  educational  papers,  I  should  do  injustice 
to  the  cause  of  education,  were  I  to  omit  to  mention  the  Massachusetts 
Common  School  Journal,  conducted  by  that  distinguished  and  accom- 
plished advocate  of  the  Common  Schools,  the  Hon.  Horace  Mann.  It 
appears  to  me  that  the  volumes  of  this  paper  are  well  deserving  of  a 
place  in  the  District  Libraries  of  this  State.  A  more  varied,  rich  and 
instructive  educational  journal,  I  have  never  read ;  nor  one  better  cal- 
culated to  exert  a  permanent  and  salutary  influence  on  behalf  of  the 
Common  Schools.  It  appears  to  me,  that  the  friends  of  popular  edu- 
cation owe  it  to  the  noble  cause  they  have  espoused,  to  themselves,  and 
especially  to  its  able,  devoted,  and  indefatigable  editor,  to  give  this 
paper  the  widest  possible  circulation. 

The  Northern  Light  is  another  journal  principally  devoted  to  sci- 
ence, literature,  and  the  dissemination  of  useful  knowledge.  It  is 
conducted  by  an  association  of  gentlemen,  of  distinguished  ability  and 
high  attainments,  and  its  influence  is  eminently  salutary  in  forming  a 
correct  taste,  and  in  the  elevation  of  the  character  of  the  press.  This 
paper  is  the  organ  of  the  Young  Men's  State  Association,  an  invalu- 
able institution,  which  has  done  much  good  service,  and  rendered 
efficient  aid  in  the  great  educational  efforts  of  our  times.  I  cordially 
recommend  the  Northern  Light  to  the  favorable  consideration  of  all 
friends  of  education,  sincerely  believing  that  they  will  always  find  it 
an  able  and  worthy  co-operator  in  the  great  and  patriotic  work  in  which 
they  are  so  nobly  engaged. 

While  acknowledging  the  value  of  the  services  rendered  by  those 
papers  which  are  generally  or  exclusively  devoted  to  scientific,  literary 
and  educational  purposes,  the  obligations  of  the  friends  of  education 
to  the  press  at  large,  ought  always  to  be  remembered.  Upon  the  great 
interest  of  popular  education,  political  editors,  to  their  everlasting 
honor  be  it  spoken,  have  acted  as  patriots  and  philanthropists ;  they 
.have  nobly  risen  above  all  party  prejudice  and  bias,  and  have  cordially 


ADDBESS,    ETC.  19 


united,  and  energeticairy  advocated  that  great  cause,  without  which 
independence,  liberty  and  free  institutions,  are  empty  and  unmeamng 
sounds. 

I  will  take  this  opportunity,  respectfully  and  earnestly  to  invite  the 
careful  attention  of  parents,  teachers,  school  officers,  and  the  friends 
of  education  at  large,  to  that  most  excellent  work,  the  School  and 
School-Master,  a  joint  production  of  Professor  Potter  of  Union  Col- 
lege, and  George  B.  Emerson,  Esq.,  of  Boston ;  two  of  the  most  com- 
petent, devoted,  practical,  and  successful  educators  of  our  times.  A 
work  better  calculated  to  awaken  and  arouse  the  true  educational  spirit, 
and,  at  the  same  time,  to  guide  that  spirit  into  right  modes  of  action, 
cannot  be  easily  conceived.  Were  this  admirable  book  the  only  aid 
which  its  distinguished  authors  had  rendered  the  cause  of  education, 
they  would  be  amply  entitled  to  the  honors  of  public  benefactors.  By 
the  enlightened  and  patriotic  liberality  of  two  other  distinguished 
friends  of  popular  education,  James  Wadsworth,  Esq.,  of  New- York, 
and  the  Hon.  Martin  Brimmer,  of  Massachusetts,  a  copy  of  the  School 
and  School-Master  has  been  presented  to  each  Common  School  dis- 
trict in  both  of  those  States.  Its  authors  have  nobly  indicated  a  field 
in  which  men  of  the  most  eminent  talents,  science  and  erudition  may 
exert  themselves  for  the  benefit  of  our  country ;  while  its  munificent 
patrons  have  set  an  example  of  beneficent  employment  of  wealth, 
which,  it  is  ardently  hoped,  other  gentlemen  of  fortune  will  not  be 
slow  to  imitate. 

The  crowning  glory  of  our  whole  Common  School  system,  is  the 
institution  of  District  Libraries.  The  man  who  was  the  originator  of 
this  magnificent  scheme,  has  secured  for  his  name  and  memory  an 
enviable  immortality ;  and  the  Legislators  who  gave  to  it  a  legal  ex- 
istence and  practical  effect,  will  be  honored  as  public  benefactors  to 
the  latest  posterity.  These  institutions  are  designed  to  carry  onward 
and  complete  the  process  which  is  but  commenced  in  the  Schools.  The 
Schools  are  intended  to  teach  children  and  youth  the  art  of  acquiring 
useful  knowledge  ;  the  Libraries  are  designed  to  E^ffbrd  them  the  means 
of  reducing  that  art  to  practice.  None  but  standard  works,  in  the 
different  departments  of  knowledge,  ought  ever  to  be  admitted  into  the 
District  Libraries.  It  is  not  from  the  great  number,  but  from  the  high 
quality  of  the  volumes,  that  the  vast  benefits  expected  from  these  in- 
stitutions are  to  flow.  If,  during  the  period  of  the  State's  patronage, 
none  but  works  of  the  first  character  are  obtained,  the  increased  know- 
Hedge  and  ability  which  will  every  where  surround  these  precious  de- 


20  ADDRESS,     ETC. 


positories,  will  cany  onward  and  complete  the  beginnings  which  have 
been  thus  auspiciously  made.  Nobler  foundations  for  the  intellectual 
and  moral  culture  of  a  whole  people,  were  never  laid  by  any  State 
ancient  or  modern.  From  these  generous  fountains,  provided,  only, 
they  shall  be  always  kept  pure,  will  hereafter  issue  copious  streams 
of  healthful  knowledge,  which  will  in  due  time  produce  an  ennobling 
social  and  political  regeneration.  Let  the  good  seed  be  sown  with  a 
generous  broadcast  throughout  the  entire  length  and  breadth  of  the 
State,  and,  though-  our  eyes  may  behold  only  the  promise  of  the  glo- 
rious harvest,  we  may  rest  in  undoubting  assurance  that  our  children 
will  possess  its  full  fruition.  May  we  be  duly  impressed  with  the 
magnitude  and  value  of  the  trust  which  is  committed  to  our  keeping 
in  the  District  Libraries;  and  let  us  ever  preserve  these  sacred  trea- 
sures of  knowledge  from  all  desecration,  with  the  same  vigilance  and 
energy  with  which  we  would  protect  and  defend  the  citadels  of  liberty, 
and  the  altars  of  religion. 

The  legal-  organization  of  our  Common  School  system,  has  been  pro- 
nounced by  competent  judges  far  in  advance  of  that  of  any  other  State 
in  the  Union ;  but  to  give  to  its  action  that  unity,  efficiency  and  suc- 
cess so  desirable,  the  enlightened  and  judicious  provisions  of  the  law 
must  be  sustained  and  enforced  by  cordial  and  constant  individual  and 
social  effort.  Associations,  both  town  and  county,  ought  to  be  imme- 
diately formed  to  devise,  promote  and  sustain  all  further  necessary  and 
useful  measures  for  the  ndvancement  of  education,  which  has  been 
truly  pronounced  the  cause  of  human  progress.  Town  associations 
would  be  composed  of  the  Town  Superintendent,  all  the  teachers  of  the 
Common  Schools,  and  such  other  active  friends  of  reform  as  would  of 
choice  unite  with  them.  These  associations  would  meet  monthly,  or 
semi-monthly,  on  Saturday  afternoon,  or  on  any  other  day  that  might 
be  more  convenient.  At  these  meetings,  reports  on  the  character  of 
text-books  and  essays  upon  various  subjects  would  be  read  ;  discus- 
sions upon  the  different  modes  of  teaching  and  the  best  way  of  gov- 
erning and  managing  schools,  would  be  held.  Such  meetings,  prop- 
erly conducted,  would  excite  a  deep  public  interest,  which  would  make 
them  more  and  more  valuable  each  succeeding  year ;  and  both  parents 
and  teachers  would  be  thereby  better  prepared  to  discharge  success- 
fully the  important  duty  of  educating  children  and  youth.* 

The  formation  of  a  County  Education  Society,  which  should  hold» 

*  Appendix  C^  1. 


ADDRESS,     ETC.  Si 


at  least,  one  meeting  in  eac-h  year,  would  be  a  measure  of  great  im- 
portance. At  the  annual  meeting  of  this  society,  an  address,  by  some 
distinguished  friend  of  education  would  be  made,  reports  from  town 
associations  would  be  read,  and  general  measures  for  further  improve- 
ment would  be  discussed.  Town  and  County  Superintendents,  by 
virtue  of  their  offices,  might  be  members  of  such  a  society,  and  they, 
together  with  principals  of  academies,  teachers  of  common  schools, 
and  such  other  friends  as  would  of  choice  unite  with  them,  would  at 
all  times  form  a  society  respectable  in  numbers,  judicious  in  counsel, 
efficient  in  action,  and  glorious  in  its  entire  consecration  to  the  promo- 
tion of  the  greatest  and  noblest  of  all  human  enterprises.* 

To  perfect  our  system  of  popular  education,  all  rivalry  and  opposi- 
tion between  Common  Schools,  Academies,  Colleges  and  Universities, 
must  be  removed.  These  different  institutions,  different  in  grade  only, 
ought  all  to  be  devoted  to  the  one  grand  purpose  of  thoroughly  educa- 
ting the  children  and  youth  of  the  State:  they  must,  therefore,  act  in 
perfect  harmony,  for 

"  AH  are  but  parts  of  one  stupendous  whole." 

This  desirable  harmony  might  be  produced  by  assigning  to  each  in- 
stitution its  appropriate  part  in  the  process  of  educating.  The  compre- 
hensive plan  of  popular  education  which  Mr.  Jefferson,  more  than 
sixty  years  ago,  recommended  to  the  people  of  Virginia,  is  the  only  one 
which  will  fully  satisfy  the  desires  and  hopes  of  the  statesman,  philo- 
sopher and  patriot.  The  system  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  commenced  with  the 
primary  school  and  thence  passed  onward,  by  regular  gradations,  through 
higher  institutions  to  the  University.  The  schools,  according  to  Mr. 
Jefferson's  plan,  to  the  extent  of  giving  every  child  a  thorough  English 
education,  were  to  be  absolutely  free  toalL  If  any  person  wished  his 
child  or  ward  to  pass  beyond  this,  he  was  to  pay  the  tuition  of  that 
child  from  his  own  means.  Mr.  Jefferson  further  proposed,  that  such 
rare  geniuses  as  this  plan  would  necessarily  develop  among  the  desti- 
tute poor,  and  whose  services  in  the  higher  departments  of  science 
would  be  highly  valuable  to  the  commonwealth,  should,  at  the  cost  of 
the  State,  be  passed  on  to  and  through  the  University.  This  is  the 
most  perfect  and  magnificent  system  of  education  ever  devised  for  a 
free  people,  and  its  conception  and  partial  execution  alone,  would  for- 
ever justly  designate  Mr.  Jefferson  as  the  profoundest  statesman  and 
philosopher  of  his  age.     Such  will  odr  system  be,  when  the  outline 

*  Appendix  C,  3. 


22  ADDRESS,    ETC. 


which  we  have  already  so  nobly  sketched,  shall  be  entirely  filled  up 
and  completed. 

A  system  of  education  such  as  this,  embracing  each  child  of  the  re- 
public, would  draw  out  every  latent  resource,  develop  and  bring  into 
vigorous  and  harmonious  action  all  the  dormant  energies  of  the  peo- 
ple :  it  would  exhibit  to  the  world,  the  sublime  spectacle  of  the  genius 
of  Napoleon,  again  returned  to  earih,  achieving  new  victories  and  new 
glories  upon  the  fields  of  peace.  On  a  spectacle  such  as  this,  the  sun 
has  never  yet  shone ;  on  such  a  spectacle,  the  sun  of  this  century  will 
shine,  if  the  people  of  our  times  and  of  succeeding  generations,  shall 
prove  faithful  to  the  high  mission  to  which  they  are  emphatically  and 
imperatively  called. 

Fellow-Superintendents,  an  enlightened,  a  generous,  patriotic  and 
confiding  people  have  invested  us  with  a  power  far  transcending  in  deli- 
cacy and  importance,  that  of  ordinary  legislation.  That  virtuous  and 
watchful  jealousy  of  government,  which  is  always  found  in  a  real  re- 
public, permits  the  legislator  to  touch  the  liberty  and  property  of  the 
citizen  only  by  means  of  well  defined  and  cautiously  guarded  general 
laws ;  while  unto  us  have  been  committed  the  supervision  and  direc 
tion  of  both  public  teachers  and  public  schools,  thus  giving  us  a  con- 
trolling influence  over  the  mind-forming  apparatus  by  which  we  may 
stamp  impressions  on  the  very  souls  of  the  whole  rising  generation 
which  will  powerfully  affect  it,  for  evil  or  for  good  throughout  the 
whole  period  of  its  existence  :  nay,  farther,  our  action  will  affect  in 
like  manner,  though  in  less  degree,  many  succeeding  generations. 
Well  may  we  be  humbled  before  the  magnitude  of  such  a  trust ;  most 
reasonably  may  we  ask  ourselves,  with  the  utmost  intensity  of  our 
souls,  are  we  worthy  to  receive  such  a  charge  ?  Are  we  competent  to 
the  performance  of  the  duties  it  imposes  ? 

Our  mission  is  that  of  reformers  :  as  such  we  must  always  remem- 
ber that  by  gentleness,  kindness,  perseverance,  charity,  addressing 
ourselves  to  the  reason  and  affections,  and  carefully  avoiding  to  shock 
too  violently  even  the  prejudices  of  the  people,  we  shall  best  secure  a 
permanent  popularity,  and  lay  a  broad  foundation  for  lasting  useful- 
ness. In  the  wise  order  of  the  universe,  all  violence  is  of  short  dura- 
tion. The  names  of  Alexander  and  Cesar  now  serve  only  "  to  point 
a  moral  or  adorn  a  tale,"  notwithstanding  each  of  those  individuals 
once   ruled   the  world  by  the  power  of  the  sword. 

In  the  execution  of  the  duties  of  our  office,  we  must  always  act  the 
genuine  republican,  while  the  political  partisan  must  never  appear; 


ADDRESS,    ETC  .  23 


and  while  we  forever  leave  in  utter  forgelfulness  and  oblivion,  all  sec- 
tarian feeling  and  technical  theology,  our  whole  course  ought  to  be 
animated  by  the  hopes,  and  guided  by  the  principles  of  the  Gospel. 
So  feeling  and  so  acting,  a  high  career  of  usefulness  is  now  opened 
before  us.  Let  us  publicly,  upon  the  altars  of  our  country,  pledge 
ourselves  to  fidelity  in  the  performance  of  our  duties,  and  provided  we 
shall  redeem  this  pledge,  the  applause  of  our  fellow-citizens,  the  testi- 
mony of  a  good  conscience,  and  the  approbation  of  Heaven  shall  be 
our  reward. 

It  may  not  be  inappropriate  to  the  occasion  fo  notice  briefly  the  in- 
dications of  the  times  for  the  purpose  of  animating  the  hopes  and  re- 
newing and  sustaining  the  efforts  of  the  friends  of  popular  education. 
Even  a  good  cause  is  sometimes  as  much  advanced  by  strong  promi- 
ses of  success,  as  by  its  inherent  right  and  excellence.  It  is  right  and 
proper,  therefore,  nay,  it  is  the  duty  of  all  advocates  of  education,  to 
present  fairly  and  trul^,  and  in  a  strong  light,  all  facts  and  observa- 
tions which  are  calculdted  to  arouse  and  fix  the  attention,  and  gather 
around  the  standard  of  education  as  much  of  the  talent,  virtue  and 
wealth  of  the  community  as  possible. 

Though  self-love,  in  the  ordinary  acceptation  of  the  term,  is  not  re- 
garded as  the  highest  motive  of  action,  all  will  readily  admit  that  its 
general  influence  upon  men  is  second  to  that  of  no  other.  Mankind 
will  always  be  found  pursuing  that  course  which  they  conceive  to  be 
produc.tive  of  the  greatest  good  to  themselves.  If,  therefore,  human 
welfare  is  ever  in  proportion  to  the  number  and  harmony  of  the  facul- 
ties excited  to  action,  it  follows  as  a  self-evident  proposition,  that  the 
happiness  of  every  person  will  be  denominated  and  measured  by  his 
education.  Who  does  not  desire  sound  health  ?  Who  would  not  have 
an  enlightened  mind  ?  Who,  above  all  things,  would  not  possess  an 
honest  heart  ?  These  inestimable  blessings,  and  innumerable  oth- 
ers, are  to  a  very  great  extent,  the  natural  results  of  right  education. 

The  love  of  gain  is  another  powerful  instinct  or  propensity  of  hu- 
man nature  ;  and  provided  you  can  show  men  a  course  of  conduct  that 
will  result  in  the  greatest  increase  of  wealth,  you  may  reckon  with 
certainty  upon  their  adoption  and  persevering  pursuit  of  that  course. 
That  the  wealth  of  every  community  is  indicated  by  its  intelligence, 
industr)^  and  economy  is  a  truth  which  will  be  found  upon  every  page 
of  human  history.  Were  the  acquisition  of  riches  the  sole  object  of 
our  pursuit,  we  should  much  sooner  attain  it  by  developing  and  bring- 
ing into  action  the  powers  of  the  mind,  than  by  draining  the  gold  and 


S4  ADDRESS,    ETC. 


silver  veins  of  the  Andes.  The  names  of  Faust,  Arkright,  Watt,  Ful- 
ton and  Whitney,  not  to  mention  others,  will  at  once  tell  how  the 
wealth  of  whole  nations  has  been  augmented  by  the  action  of  indivi- 
dual minds. 

The  innumerable  societies  which,  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury have  sprung  up  in  all  parts  of  the  country — Agricultural  Socie- 
ties, Mechanics'  Associations,  Lyceums,  Young  Men's  Associations, 
&c.,  are  all  indubitable  proofs  of  the  fact,  that  vast  masses,  in  every 
department  of  life,  have  discovered  that  their  true  interest  and  well 
being,  are  most  certainly  and  best  promoted  by  developing  and  disci- 
plining their  own  faculties,  and  bringing  into  greater  activity  their 
mental  powers. 

The  farmer  has  learned  that  a  knowledge  of  geology,  chemistry, 
zoology,  in  a  word,  natural  philosophy,  in  all  its  branches,  is  eminently 
useful,  not  to  say  indispensably  necessary,  to  the  successful  prosecu- 
tion of  farming,  the  primary,  most  important  and  most  noble  depart- 
ment of  virtuous  industry.  From  the  time  the  mechanic  first  sub- 
stituted the  purling  brook  and  wheel  for  the  foot-lathe,  he  has  known 
that  though  his  hand  must  always  be  employed,  the  grand  reservoir  of 
his  power,  the  most  certain  element  of  his  success,  will  ever  be  found 
in  his  head.  The  farmer  and  mechanic,  therefore,  have  ever  been  and 
ever  will  be  numbered  among  the  firmest  and  most  active  frientis  of 
popular  education  and  Common  Schools. 

The  embarrassment  and  pressure  of  the  times  are  favorable  to  popu- 
lar education.  This  may  to  some,  appear  paradoxical,  but  I  think  a 
few  moments  attention  to  facts  will  make  this  assertion  plain  to  all. 
In  that  hollow  and  unsubstantial  prosperity  which  sprung  out  of  a 
false  credit  system,  the  seeming  favorites  of  fortune  began  seriously  to 
believe  that  they  were  of  nobler  origin,  and  of  higher  race,  than  the 
common  masses  of  humanity  ;  they,  therefore,  filled  our  country  with 
private  schools  and  misnamed  academies,  for  the  education  of  their  fa- 
vored children,  while  the  Common  Schools,  and  the  equally  deserving 
children  of  honest  manual  labor  were  neglected  and  uncared  for.  The 
complete  bursting  and  utter  annihilation  of  the  bubble  has  restored 
thousands  upon  thousands  to  their  sober  senses  again,  and  they  now 
perceive  that  their  true  interest,  no  less  than  their  country's,  requires 
them  to  place  able  and  accomplished  teachers  in  the  Common  Schools, 
and  to  return  their  children  once  more  to  those  institutions,  from  which 
they  ought  never  to  have  been  withdrawn. 


ADDBESS,    ETC.  25 


The  pressure  of  the  times,  also,  has  opened  to  the  minds  of  all,  the 
truth,  that  next  to  absolute  crime,  a  state  of  perpetual  indebtedness  is, 
of  all  human  conditions,  the  most  humiliating  and  deplorable.  It  is 
now,  at  least  to  some  extent,  perceived  that  the  "  credit  system,"  as 
we  have  formerly  practised  it,  is  incompatible  with  republican  in- 
stitutions, and  that  we  have  indeed  to  make,  as  Mr.  Jefferson  long  since 
taught  us,  *'  our  election  between  economy  and  liberty,  or  profusion 
and  servitude."  Industry,  economy  and  frugality  must  again  become 
household  virtues,  and  in  our  families  and  schools  must  all  our  chil- 
dren be  taught  that  the  only  real  philosopher's* stone,  which  turns  all 
things  into  gold,  is  to  pay  as  you  go.  There  is  a  momentous  truth  of 
the  deepest  significancy,  in  the  scriptural  injunction,  owe  no  man  any 

THING.* 

Our  government  is  not  only  favorable  to  education,  but  its  funda- 
mental principle,  the  sovereignty  of  the  people,  absolutely  requires 
that  every  citizen  should  be  well  taught  in  all  principles  of  his  duty. 
A  more  important  trutJi  for  a  republic,  was  never  uttered  by  human 
tongue,  than  that  which  John  Quincy  Adams  proclaimed,  when  he  declared 
that  the  "  people,  correctly  informed,  will  always  do  rights  Correct 
information  is  the  indispensable  condition  of  right  action.  It  is  then, 
and  then  only,  that  it  can  with  truth  be  said,  "  The  voice  of  the  people 
is  the  voice  of  God."  By  our  constitutions  we  have  given  civil  omnipo- 
tence to  the  ballot  boxes  ;  by  our  laws  we  must  now  give  sound  educa- 
tion to  every  voter,  or  the  grand  experiment  of  popular  suffrage  and 
free  institutions,  around  which  the  brightest  and  holiest  hopes  of  hu- 
manity have  clustered,  will  result  in  the  utter  and  hopeless  destruction 
of  the  republic.  The  only  impregnable  fort;-ess  of  popular  liberty  is 
the  Common  School  System :  without  this  all  our  other  armaments  and 
munitions  will  be  vain  ;  with  this,  a  generous,  patriotic  people  will  be 
forever  invincible.  This  truth  has  been  long  known  and  acted  upon 
by  many  of  our  virtuous  and  enlightened  statesmen,  but  the  conviction 
of  its  momentous  importance  has  now  become  so  general  that  univer- 
sal education  and  universal  suffrage  are  proclaimed  by  national  parties 
as  their  motto,  and  are  put  forth  even  now  by  the  federal  government, 
under  which  we  live  as  cardinal  and  fundamental  principles  of  its  po- 
litical faith. 

Many  of  the  ripest  scholars  of  our  country,  the  men  at  the  head  of 
the  philosophy  and  literature  of  our  day,  are  now  deeply  engaged  with 
their  voices  and  with  their  pens,  in  maturing,  directing,  defending  and 

•  Appendix  D. 


26  ADDRESS,     ETC. 


making  popular  the  grand  scheme  of  developing  and  bringing  into  vir- 
tuous activity  all  the  latent  principles  and  dormant  energies  of  the  peo- 
ple. Eminent  and  commanding  is  the  position  which  these  men  occu- 
py, and  the)!  are  nobly  evincing  to  the  world  that  they  comprehend  the 
truth,  that  to  inform  the  ignorant,  reclaim  the  vicious,  arouse  the  indif- 
ferent, and  to  quicken  all  into  a  prompt  performance  of  every  duty,  are 
the  end  and  object  of  all  true  science,  literature  and  philosophy. 

Most  auspicious  and  encouraging  too,  is  the  fact  that  at  the  present 
time  a  corps  of  Common  School  masters,  of  far  higher  qualifications, 
juster  appreciation  of  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  teachers,  and 
of  more  elevated  character  generally,  is  now  organizing  in  every 
county  of  the  State.  Pursuing  for  a  few  years  to  come,  the  noble 
course  of  two  years  past,  and  the  majority  of  our  Common  Schools 
will  be  in  charge  of  really  competent  teachers.  Here  is  a  field  in 
which  philanthropy  and  patriotism  may  exert  themselves  to  the  greatest 
extent  ;  and  it  is  heart-cheering  to  the  friends  of  popular  education  to 
see  so  great  a  number  of  virtuous  and  competent  young  men  enrolling 
their  names  on  the  lists  of  the  Teacher's  Profession,  and  conscientious- 
ly and  ardently  devoting  themselves  to  the  arduous,  yet  glorious  work 
of  graving  upon  the  tender  and  impressible  minds  of  children  and 
youth,  the  eternal  and  unchangeable  principles  of  truth  and  duty,  and 
forming  them  by  their  own  constant  and  bright  example,  to  the  love 
and  practice  of  all  that  is  useful,  pure  and  ennobling  in  human  con- 
duct. 

Not  only  have  the  farmer,  mechanic,  scholar,  statesman,  philosopher 
and  patriot  enrolled  themselves  under  the  banner  of  educational  reform, 
but  woman,  with  all  her  inherent  beauty  and  loveliness,  with  her  in- 
nate shrewdness,  aptness,  patience,  hopefulness,  perseverance  and 
irresistible  power,  has  with  a  devotion  and  ardor  which  none  but 
herself  can  feel  or  know,  espoused  this  noble  cause  and  rendered 
it  such  good  service,  as  none  but  woman  can  render.  Not  only  as  a 
mother  does  she  indelibly  impress  upon  the  tender  infant  mind  the  love 
and  practice  of  the  true,  the  beautiful,  the  great,  the  glorious,  and  the 
good,  but  as  a  teacher  she  has  entered  the  once  unattractive,  not  to  say 
repulsive  school-house,  and  its  whole  aspect  has  been  changed  as  with 
the  wand  of  an  enchantress.  The  hoary  cobweb  which  from  time  im- 
memorial has  occupied  its  prescriptive  corner  or  window,  has  been  re- 
moved ;  the  dust  of  ages  has  been  brushed  from  the  walls  ;  the  virgin 
loveliness  of  white  is  once  more  seen  upon  the  floors ;  yards  have  been 
levelled,  enclosed,  and   planted  with  shrubbery ;    window  tables  and 


ADDRESS,     BTC.  27 


mantel-pieces  are  surmounted  by  pots  of  flowers ;  graceful  festoons  of 
evergreens,  maps,  paintings,  and  drawings  adorn  the  walls;  in  a  word, 
that  perfect  cleanliness,  order  and  beauty  which  at  once  endear  and 
consecrate  the  domestic  fire-side,  have  been  transferred  to  the  school- 
room,  making  it  no  longer  the  hated  prison  house,  but  the  dear,  chosen 
and  loved  retreat  of  childhood.  Woman,  whose  unrivalled  dominion 
ever  has  been,  and  ever  must  be  in  the  most  tender  and  holiest  affections 
of  humanity,  understands  full  well  the  art  of  addressing  and  winning 
the  juvenile  heart,  and  drawing  it  out  successfully  into  ardent  and 
constant  aspirations  towards  all  that  is  great  and  noble  and  pure  in  the  * 
universe.  Well  too,  has  woman  by  her  noble  actions,  repelled  the  un- 
natural and  unjust  prejudice,  once  generally,  and  I  fear  even  now  by 
some  entertained,  that  she  is  incompetent  to  preside  over  and  direct 
intellectual  education. 

The  tutor  of  Louis  Phillippe,  the  citizen  king  of  the  French,  who, 
apart  from  royalty  and  all  considerations  of  rank  and  place,  is  a  man 
of  sound  judgment  and  highly  cultivated  intelleci,  was  a  female;  and 
well  did  she  discharge  the  duties  of  her  sacred  ofKce.  In  her  hands 
the  untaught  youth  was  made  to  lay  aside  and  forget  his  royalty.  She 
deprived  him  of  his  costly  viands,  stripped  him  of  his  regal  vestments, 
and  took  away  his  golden  canopies  and  bed  of  down  ;  instead  of  all 
which  she  gave  him  the  plain  fare,  modest  apparel,  and  hard  bed  of 
honest  labor;  in  a  word,  she  made  him  feel  and  comprehend  the  great 
truth,  that  apart  from  all  the  accidents  of  rank  and  fortune,  every  in- 
dividual is  to  lake  and  hold  his  place  in  the  community  by  the  exercise 
of  his  own  faculties,  and  by  his  practice  of  the  private  and  social  vir- 
tues. So  educated,  so  taught  to  know  himself  and  others,  it  is  not  at 
all  surprising  that  when  in  the  terrible  experiment  of  the  French  Revo- 
lution, his  rank  was  abolished,  his  fortune  confiscated,  and  himself 
driven  into  exile,  naked  and  destitute  as  the  veriest  beggar-boy  of  Paris, 
he  still  found  all  the  elements  for  reconstructing  his  fortune  within 
himself ;  and  now,  when  raised  to  a  higher  position  than  he  ever  be- 
fore occupied,  he  bears  his  honors  and  exercises  his  powers  with  mode- 
ration ;  and  while  he  discharges  his  duties  as  a  monarch,  he  feels  and 
knows,  what  few  other  monarchs  can  perceive  or  even  imagine,  that  he 
is  but  a  man.  He  owes  his  unrivalled  success  to  his  education ;  nor  is 
it  too  much  to  affirm,  that  had  there  been  no  Madame  Genlis,  Louis 
Phillippe  had  never  been  citizen-king  of  the  French. 

The  most  grand,  daring,  and  successful  genius  of  his  age,  a  man 
of  giant  intellect,  a  profound  statesman,  an  unrivalled  negotiator,  and 


0 
SS  ADDRESS  ,    fiTC. 


the  greatest  military  captain  of  the  world,  Napoleon, always  ascribed 
the  greatness  and  glory  of  his  unequalled  career  to  the  lessons  taught 
him  by  his  mother.  So  deeply  graven  on  his  mind  was  the  truth  of 
woman's  pre-eminent  influence  in  the  formation  of  character,  that  it 
was  one  of  the  standing  maxims  of  his  life,  "  That  there  never  was  an 
extraordinary  man  who  toas  the  son  of  an  ordinary  mother." 

Many  of  the  master  spirits  of  our  own  country,  whose  splendid 
achievements  have  enrolled  their  names  high  upon  the  imperishable 
records  of  true  glory,  and  whose  private  and  social  virtues  have  en- 
shrined them  in  the  hearts  of  their  fellow-citizens,  were  trained  and 
fashioned  by  female  intelligence  and  virtue.  Jackson  and  Calhoun, 
not  to  mention  others,  are  noble  specimens  of  what  poor,  virtuous,  w^id- 
owed  mothers  can  achieve.  The  brightest  and  purest  name  of  our  his- 
tory, and  of  the  world's  history,  which  will  grow  brighter  and  brighter, 
and  become  more  and  more  holy,  as  it  goes  sparkling  down  to  poster- 
ity, our  own  beloved,  immortal  Washington,  received  the  elements  of 
that  character  of  which  we  are  all  so  justly  proud,  from  the  vigilant 
guardianship,  sound  judgment,  and  spotless  virtue  of  his  widowed  mo- 
ther. To  the  male  youth  of  our  country,  whose  generous  bosoms  glow 
with  ardent  aspirations  for  enduring  fame,  with  all  the  sincerity  and 
energy  that  I  can  command,  I  would  say,  make  Washington  your  per- 
petual model.  And  to  the  fairer  and  lovelier  sex,  would  you  reign 
without  rivals  in  our  hearts,  would  you  desire  that  the  great  and  good 
of  the  republic  shall  raise  monuments  to  your  memory  and  pour  the 
warm  tears  of  a  mighty  people's  gratitude  upon  your  graves,  imitate, 
forever  imitate,  the  virtues  of  Mary,  the  mother  of  Washington. 

Phrenologists  assert  that  the  love  of  approbation  is  one  of  the  most 
active  and  powerful  organs  of  the  human  brain  ;  and  history  assures  us 
that  popular  applause  has  been  in  all  ages,  one  of  the  most  efl^ectual 
stimulants  to  great  and  heroic  actions.  I  have  recently  witnessed  a 
remarkable  proof  of  the  truth  of  this  concurrent  testimony  of  phreno- 
logy and  history.  I  have  seen  the  honored  representative  of  one  of  the 
most  illustrious  names  of  our  history,*  a  man  of  iron  nerve,  strong  native 
intellect  and  most  thorough  and  accomplished  education,  who  has 
passed  twenty  years  of  his  life  in  th«  highest  diplomatic  circles  of  Eu- 
rope, who  has  represented  his  country  and  asserted  and  maintained  its 
interests  and  honor  at  the  courts  of  many  of  the  most  powerful  mo- 
narchs,  and  stood  unawed  and  unbowed  in  the  presence  of  kings ;  and 
whb  has  since  been  raised  to  the  highest  honors  of  his  native  country ; 
such  a  man,  now  upon  the  verge  of  fourscore  years,  with  all  terrestrial 
»  •  Hon.  J.  Q.  Adams. 


ADDRESS,     ETC.  29 


things  rapidly  receding  forever  from  his  sight,  I  have  seen  unnerved ; 
his  eyes  streaming  with  tears,  his  lips  quivering,  and  his  voice  stifled 
with  emotion  by  the  simple  presence  of  his  unsophisticated  fellow-coun- 
trymen, who  gathered  around  him  to  testify  their  respect  and  admira- 
tion of  his  character,  to  take  him  by  the  hand  and  to  wish  him  God 
speed  upon  his  way. 

If  such  a  man,  under  such  circumstances,  can  be  so  moved,  what 
must  be  the  influence  of  popular  applause  upon  men  in  middle  life,  with 
fair  promise  of  many  years,  filled  with  ardent  hopes  and  high  expecta- 
tions ?  In  this  strong,  ineradicable  and  irrepressible  feeling  of  the 
human  soul,  Providence  has  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  people  a  cheap, 
simple,  yet  all-efficient  power,  by  the  right  use  of  which  they  may  ulti- 
mately raise  our  country  to  the  highest  possible  attainments  of  happi- 
ness and  glory ;  or  by  its  misapplication  and  abuse,  rapidly  sink  it  to 
depths  of  degradation  and  misery,  from  which  it  can  never  arise.  If 
popular  applause  be  bestowed  only  upon  the  really  meritorious,  upon 
talent  and  intelligence  rightly  employed,  upon  unblemished  virtue 
and  strict  integrity,  both  in  public  and  in  private  life,  then  may  we 
reasonably  hope  and  expect  that  the  noble  heritage  of  free  institutions 
which  we  have  received  from  the  valor,  wisdom  and  patriotism  of  wor- 
thy ancestors,  will  be  cherished,  improved  and  perpetuated  to  the  latest 
times.  J 

It  is  unspeakably  encouraging  to  the  friends  of  education,  to  see  an 
intelligent  and  virtuous  people  employing  so  generally,  this  great  power 
for  the  promotion  of  sound  education  and  for  the  elevation  of  the  Com- 
mon Schools.  Wherever  there  is  a  competent  and  faithful  teacher,  a 
deserving  author  or  compiler,  an  able  and  efficient  officer,  theie  do  the 
honors  and  applause  of  his  countrymen  meet  him  to  encourage  him  on- 
ward in  the  path  of  duty,  and  to  bestow  upon  him  an  appropriate  re- 
ward for  his  labors.  This  is  the  most  glorious  and  encouraging  day 
that  the  friends  of  popular  education  have  ever  beheld  ;  but  cheering 
as  it  is,  it  is  only  the  harbinger  to  one  far  more  brilliant  and  glorious, 
if  teachers,  authors  and  officers  shall  continue  active  and  persevering 
in  the  discharge  of  all  their  duties. 

Lastly,  religion  itself,  whose  principle,  deeper  and  firmer  than  all 
other  things,  is  rooted  and  riveted  in  the  inmost  recesses  of  the  human 
soul,  imperatively  demands  the  right  instruction  and  thorough  educa- 
tion of  every  human  being.  It  is  true  that  a  law-established  Church, 
filled  with  a  self-seeking  spirit,  has  too  often  shown  itself  an  oppres- 
sor and  scourge ;  but  it  is  equally  true  that  an  enlightened  Christian 

3 


30  ADDRESS,     ETC. 

ministry,  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  Gospel,  has  ever  been  the  advo- 
cate of  equality,  liberty,  justice,  and  truth,  and  in  all  its  acts  given  full 
and  lucid  proof  that  it  has  been  sent  by  Heaven  on  errands  of  mercy  to 
mankind,  and  that  the  design  and  object  of  its  office  are  to  enlighten, 
to  purify  and  to  save.  Such  a  ministry  has  always  taught  and  always 
will  teach,  that  the  "  Christian  worships  a  God  of  intelligence  as  well 
as  of  love,  and  that  exalted  piety  requires  no  less  the  cultivation  of  the 
intellect  than  the  purity  and  warmth  of  the  affections."  It  recognises 
the  works  and  the  commands  of  the  Creator  in  the  world  around  us, 
as  well  as  in  the  written  Word  ;  and  it  has  long  since  proclaimed,  that 
in  the  process  of  converting  the  world,  the  development  of  intellect 
must  ever  precede  or  accompany  the  truths  of  the  Gospel.  This  is  only 
a  single  mode  of  announcing  the  grand  fundamental  truth  which  is  ex- 
pressly declared  on  some  of  the  pages  of  the  inspired  Volume,  and  may 
be  clearly  traced  upon  many  others,  that  all  material  forms  of  the  outer 
world  are  but  symbols  of  the  deeper  spiritual  truths  of  the  universe. 

The  godlike  plan  of  thoroughly  educating  the  entire  mass  of  peo- 
ple, is  one  of  the  most  astonishing  achievements  of  modern  times ; 
nay,  there  is  nothing  in  human  history,  if  you  contemplate  the  intrin- 
sic value  of  the  thing,  the  profundity  of  its  conception,  and  the  mag- 
nificent results  produced,  that  can  surpass  it.  Compared  with  this,  all 
our  wonderful  victories^  over  physical  nature,  as  exhibited  in  our  unri- 
valled canals  and  railroads,  dwindle  into  utter  insignificance.  The 
Common  School  system  surpasses  in  value  and  importance  the  system 
of  internal  improvements  in  the  same  proportion  that  mind  and  morals 
surpass  in  excellence  inanimate  matter.  The  Croton  Aqueduct,  by 
which  a  whole  river  is  raised  from  its  bed,  borne  over  hill,  valley  and 
stream  for  the  distance  of  forty  miles,  and  poured  in  copious  effusion 
over  the  whole  area  of  the  largest  city  of  the  western  hemisphere, 
supplying  in  unmeasured  abundance  a  population  of  more  than  three 
hundred  thousand  souls,  with  one  of  the  chief  elements  of  physical 
cleanliness  and  health,  is  one  of  the  most  stupendous  achievements  of 
science  and  labor,  and  will  be  a  land-mark  of  our  times  in  the  eye  of 
.posterity.  But  how  rapidly  the  grandeur  of  the  Croton  Aqueduct  fades 
from  our  view  before  the  matchless  glory  of  the  Common  School  Aque- 
duct, which  lifts  up  from  their  lowest  deeps,  and  draws  down  from  the 
highest  heavens,  the  elements  of  knowledge,  and  pours  them  with 
boundless  profusion,  not  over  the  meager  area  of  one  solitary  city  only, 
but  throughout  the  entire  domain  of  the  Empire  State,  filling  as  freely 
and  impartially  as  the  light  of  heaven,  the  merchant  palace  of  the  city, 


ADDRESS,    ETC.  31 


and  the  log-built  hut  of  the  forest,  with  the  elements  of  mental  and 
moral  life. 

It  is  but  little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  that  the  Common 
School  system  has  had  a  legal  existence  in  New- York  ;  yet, such  have 
been  the  wisdom  and  efficiency  of  our  legislation  upon  this  subject, 
that  we  have  now  by  far  the  most  perfect  educational  organization  in 
the  Union.  I  hope  this  fact,  however, creditable  as  it  is,  and  grateful 
as  it  must  be  to  a  patriotic  people,  will  not  cause  us  to  relax  our  exer- 
tions, or  in  any  way  to  retard  our  progress  in  the  noble  career  upon 
which  we  have  so  auspiciously  entered.  Upon  this  subject,  above  all 
others,  may  we  ever  be  mindful  of  the  duty  enjoined  upon  us  by  the 
glorious  motto  of  our  State,  Excelsior. 

Whatever  may  be  the  action  of  others,  I  have  the  strongest  assu- 
rance that  the  people  of  Otsego  will  ever  sustain  the  enviable  relation 
which  they  now  bear  to  this  great  mission  of  philanthropy  and  patriot- 
ism. History  accords  to  a  citizen  of  your  county,  Jedediah  Peck,  a 
distinguished  rank  among  the  early  fathers  of  the  Common  School  sys- 
tem of  New- York;  and  to  another  citizen  of  your  county,  Hon.  Jabez 
D.  Hammond,  history  will  hereafter  accord  the  high  honor  of  a  leading 
and  commanding  position  among  those  virtuous  and  enlightened  men 
who  have  cherished,  defended,  protected  and  made  popular  the  system 
which  Judge  Peck  and  his  noble  compeers  called  into  being. 

In  conclusion,  I  cannot  better  place  before  you  the  great  duty  which 
is  incumbent  upon  us  all  in  relation  to  this  subject,  and  the  fearful  and 
appalling  consequences  of  its  non-performance,  than  by  adopting  ihe 
language  of  one  of  the  most  accomplished,  able  and  eloquent  advocates 
of  the  Common  Schools.  * 

"  Remember  the  child  whose  voice  first  lisps  to-day,  before  that 
voice  shall  whisper  sedition  in  secret,  or  thunder  treason  at  the  head 
of  an  armed  band.  Remember  the  child  whose  hand  to-day  first  lifts 
its  tiny  bawble,  before  that  hand  shall  scatter  firebrands,  arrows  and 
death.  Remember  those  sportive  groups  of  youth,  in  whose  halcyon 
bosoms  there  sleeps  an  ocean  as  yet  scarcely  ruffled  by  the  passions 
which  soon 'shall  heave  it  as  with  the  tempest's  strength.  Remember 
that  whatever  station  in  life  you  may  fill,  these  mortals — these  immor- 
tals, are  your  care.  Devote,  expend,  consecrate  yourselves  to  the  holy 
work  of  their  improvement.  Pour  out  light  and  truth  as  God  pours  out 
sunshine  and  rain.  No  longer  seek  knowledge  as  the  luxury  of  a  few, 
but  dispense  it  among  all  as  the  bread  of  life.  Learn  onlv  how  the 
ignorant  may  learn  ;  how  the  innocent  may  be  preserved,  the  vicious 
*  Hon.  Horace  Mann. 


1 


32  ADDRESS,    I2TC. 


reclaimed.  Call  down  the  astronomer  from  the  skies :  call  up  the 
geologist  from  his  subterranean  explorations  ;  summon,  if  need  be,  the 
mightiest  intellects  from  the  Council  Chamber  of  the  Nation  ;  enter 
cloistered  halls,  where  the  scholiast  muses  over  superfluous  annotations ; 
dissolve  conclave  and  synod,  where  subtle  polemics  are  discussing  their 
barren  dogmas  ;  collect  whatever  of  talent,  or  erudition,  or  eloquence, 
or  authority  the  broad  land  can  supply,  and  go  forth^  and  teach  this 
PEOPLE.  For  in  the  name  of  the  living  God,  it  must  be  proclaimed 
that  licentiousness  shall  be  the  liberty,  violence  and  chicanery  shall  be 
the  law,  and  superstition  and  craft  shall  be  the  religion ;  and  the  self- 
destructive  indulgence  of  all  sensual  and  unhallowed  passions,  shall  be 
the  only  happiness  of  that  people  who  neglect  the  education  of  theii 
children." 


T. 


APPENDIX. 


Extract  from  the  Report  of  the  Hon.  Samuel  Young,  Superintendent  of 
Common  Schools,  January  12,  1843. 

When  the  law,  creating  the  office  of  deputy  superintendent  of  com- 
mon schools  in  the  several  counties  was  first  promulgated,  having 
been  passed  in  a  period  of  the  most  profligate  and  reckless  legislative 
expenditure,  it  was,  in  the  minds  of  many,  associated  with  the  broad 
and  impudent  system  of  felonious  enactment,  "  eating  out  the  sub- 
stance of  the  people,"  and  stealing  the  bread,  and  plundering  the  means 
of  education  from  myriads  of  unborn  children,  which  has  brought  upon 
this  State  the  terrific  desolation  of  a  debt  of  twenty-seven  millions  of 
dollars.  He  who  now  occupies  the  station  of  State  Superintendent, 
derived  his  first  impressions  of  this  law  from  such  an  association  of 
ideas  ;  and  on  entering  upon  the  duties  of  the  office,  felt  a  decided  pre- 
disposition to  exercise  whatever  influence  he  might  possess,  to  save 
the  expense  by  an  abolition  of  the  system.  But  to  have  passed  an  ir- 
revocable sentence  of  condemnation  upon  it,  without  first  subjecting  it 
to  the  test  of  a  rigid  scrutiny,  would  have  been  manifestly  unjust.  A 
meeting  of  the  deputy  superintendents  of  the  several  counties  was  ad- 
vertised to  be  held  in  the  city  of  Ulica,  in  May  last ;  and  one  of  the 
prominent  objects  of  the  Superintendent  in  being  present  at  that  con- 
vention, was  to  obtain,  if  possible,  an  accurate  knowledge  and  lo  form 
a  satisfactory  opinion  of  the  intelligence,  zeal  and  capacity  for  useful- 
ness of  its  members.  The  proceedings  of  that  convention  have  been 
widely  circulated  and  extensively  read  ;  and  it  is  no  unmeaning  com- 
pliment to  allege,  that  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  and  improving  the 
important  principles  of  elementary  instruction,  no  body  of  men  of  equal 
information  and  devotedness,  has  ever  before  assembled  in  this  State. 
But  the  practical  utility  of  the  system,  its  adaptation  to  supply  the  de- 
ficiencies of  supervision,  to  point  out  the  extent  of  existing  evils,  and 
to  suggest  the  most  feasible  remedies,  to  allay  the  bitter  feuds  and 
animosities  which  often  mar  the  peace  and  retard  the  prosperity  of 
school  districts,  and  to  rouse  and  inspire  parental  indifference  with  a 
love  for  the  advancement  and  happiness  of  children,  by  the  acquisition 
of  useful  knowledge  in  well  regulated  schools,  were  yet  to  be  tested. 
How  far  these  important  objects  have  been  effected,  will,  to  a  conside- 
rable extent,  be  seen  and  appreciated  by  the  Legislature,  on  reading 
the  able  reports  of  the  deputy  superintendents  herewith  transmitted. 


3^4  APPENDIX. 

In  every  county  in  the  State,  where  the  deputy  superintendent  has 
assiduously  fulfilled  his  mission,  an  improvement  in  the  condition  of 
the  schools  is  manifest.  The  frequent  lectures  and  expostulations  of 
these  officers,  at  meetings  of  the  inhabitants  of  districts  convened  by 
them,  have  done  much  good,  by  arousing  the  thoughtless,  confirming 
the  wavering,. and  exciting  to  more  vigorous  exertions  all  the  friends  of 
education.  Many  compromises  of  obstinate  district  quarrels  have  been 
effected  by  the  friendly  interference,  and  pacific  counsels  of  these  offi- 
cers. In  several  of  those  frequent  contests  brought  up  by  appeal,  re- 
specting sites  of  school  houses  and  divisions,  aiid  lines  of  districts,  in- 
volving questions  respecting  distances  and  convenience  of  travel,  the 
statements  of  which,  by  the  conflicting  parties  are  often  utterly  irre- 
concilable, the  county  superintendent,  on  a  requisition  from  this  De- 
partment, has  repaired  to  the  spot,  and  carefully  collected  and  trans- 
mitted the  naked  facts,  upon  which  a  satisfactory  decision  might  be 
based.  The  number  of  appeals  is  increasing  with  the  multiplication 
of  districts,  and  now  averages  nearly  one  for  every  two  days  in  the 
year,  requiring  the  examination  of  exceedingly  voluminous,  complica- 
ted, and  often  contradictory  documents,  and  the  adjustment  of  a  great 
variety  of  legal  principles  and  individual  interests.  The  amount  an- 
nually paid  from  the  State  treasury  for  postage  on  these  documents, 
constitutes  a  serious  item  in  the  aggregate  expense  of  the  department. 
In  addition  to  these  appeals,  the  daily  correspondence  of  the  Depart- 
ment, with  the  inhabitants  and  officers  of  districts'  requiring  informa- 
tion and  advice  for  their  guidance,  occupies  a  very  large  proportion  of 
its  time,  and  is  constantly  increasing.  It  has  occurred  to  the  Superin- 
tendent that  a  great  saving  might  be  effected  in  time  and  money,  as 
well  as  a  greater  degree  of  practical  efficiency  giv,en  to  the  system,  by 
the  reference  of  all  appeals  to  the  deputy  superintendent,  in  the  first 
instance  for  his  decision;  with  the  right  to  any  party  aggrieved  thereby 
to  bring  such  decision  up  for  review  by  this  Department.  A  large  pro- 
portion also  of  the  ordinary  correspondence  of  the  Department  might 
advantageously  take  this  direction  ;  suitable  provisions  being  made  to 
defray  the  charge  of  necessary  postage.  The  blundering,  inartificial 
and  contradictory  statements  of  litigants  might  then  be  elucidated  and 
rectified  by  an  officer,  who,  if  necessary,  could  go  to  the  district  and 
ascertain  the  real  merits  of  each  case  ;  and  the  painful  necessity  often 
cast  upon  this  Department,  of  deciding  doubtful  questions  on  crude  and 
conflicting  testimony  would  be  obviated,  while  at  the  same  time  a  great 
economy  of  expense  would  be  secured. 

Deputy  superintendents  properly  qualified  for  the  discharge  of  their 
functions,  possessing  a  competent  knowledge  of  the  moral,  intellectual 
and  physical  sciences,  familiar  with  all  the  modern  improvements  in 
elementary  instruction,  and  earnestly  intent  on  elevating  the  condition 
of  our  common  schools,  can  do  much  more  to  accomplish  this  desira- 
ble result,  than  all  the  other  officers  connected  with  the  system.  Act- 
ing on  a  broader  theatre,  they  can  perform  more  efficiently  all  that  su- 
pervision which  has  heretofore  been  so  deplorably  neglected,  or  badly 


APPENDIX.  36 

executed.  The  system  of  deputy  superintendents  is  capable  of  secur- 
ing, and  can  be  made  to  secure,  the  following  objects: 

It  can  produce  a  complete  and  efficient  supervision  of  all  the  schools 
of  the  State,  in  reference  as  well  to  their  internal  management,  as 
to  their  external  details  : 

It  can  be  made  to. unite  all  the  schools  of  the  State  into  one  great 
system  ;  making  the  advancement  of  each  the  ambition  of  all ;  furnish- 
ing each  with  the  means  of  attaining  the  highest  standard  of  practi- 
cal excellence,  by  communicating  to  it  every  improvement  discovered 
or  suggested  in  every  or  any  of  the  others : 

It  can  do  much  towards  dissipating  the  stolid  indifference  which  pa- 
ralyzes many  portions  of  the  community,  and  towards  arousing,  en- 
lightening and  enlisting  public  sentiment  in  the  great  work  of  elemen- 
tary instruction,  by  systematic  and  periodical  appeals  to  the  inhabitants 
of  each  school  district,  in  the  form  of  lectures,  addresses,  &c. 

It  can  be  made  to  dismiss  from  our  schools  all  immoral  and  incom- 
petent teachers,  and  to  secure  the  services  of  such  only  as  are  quali- 
fied and  efficient,  thereby  elevating  the  grade  of  the  school  master,  and 
infusing  new  vitality  in  the  school. 

An  attentive  examination  of  the  interesting  reports  of  the  deputy  su- 
perintendents will  clearly  show  that  the  accomplishment  of  several  of 
the  most  important  of  these  objects  is  already  in  a  state  of  encouraging 
progression. 


Extract  from  Mr.  Hulhurd's  Report  on  the  Petitions  for  abolishing  tht 
office  of  County  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  and  on  Remon- 
strances against  the  same. 

The  system  of  count}'  superintendents  was  established  to  correct 
these  and  other  kindred  evils  ;  to  make  reports  on  the  conditions  of  the 
schools,  school  houses,  the  best  method  of  imparting  instruction,  bring- 
ing before  one  district  the  successful  experiments  of  other  districts,  ex- 
posing the  defects  and  evils  that  existed,  awakening  the  dormant  in- 
terests of  parents,  in  short,  diffusing  generally  the  better  means  of  edu- 
cation now  enjoyed  in  the  more  advanced  sections  of  the  State.  The 
principal  provisions  of  the  system  were  many  years  ago  recommended 
in  the  counties  of  Herkimer  and  Otsego ;  its  value  has  been  tested  for 
more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  in  Holland,  and  with  equal  success  it 
has  been  introduced  into  every  State  of  Europe,  in  which  schools  have 
received  the  permanent  attention  of  government. 

It  has  been  recommended  in  New-Jersey,  Ohio  and  Kentucky. 
"When  in  1839,  Connecticut  awoke  from  her  long  apathy  oii  the  sub- 
ject of  schools,  she  passed  an  act  enlarging  the  powers  and  stimulating 
the  efficiency  of  her  common  school  visiters,  a  class  of  officers  which 
answer  to  our  deputy  superintendents.  In  1S42,  when  this  renovated 
system  had  been  little  over  two  years  in  operation,  the  able  Secretary 
of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of  Common  Schools,  in  his  report 


36  APPENDIX. 


says,  "  no  adequate  substitute  can  be  provided  for  frequent,  faithful, 
and  intelligent  visitation  of  schools,  carrying  along  with  it  wise  coun- 
sel for  the  future  to  teachers  and  pupils,  encouragemeni  for  past  suc- 
cess, and  rebuke  for  neglect,  defective  discipline  and  methods  of  in- 
struction. The  mode  of  visiting  should  be  such  as  to  make  known  to 
all  the  schools  the  superior  methods  of  any  one,  and  awaken  a  gene- 
rous rivalry  between  the  teachers  and  scholars  of  the  several  schools." 

The  committee  can  but  think  those  who  are  petitioning  that  the  of- 
fice of  the  county  deputies  may  be  abolished,  on  the  ground  that  it  is 
a  useless  expense,  are  looking  too  soon  for  results.  These  officers 
have  but  entered  upon  the  discharge  of  duties,  when,  in  this  State, 
they  had  no  light  of  past  experience  to  guide  them  ;  the  territory  was 
new  and  unexplored  ;  they  have  hardly  been  able  to  survey  the  extent, 
and  much  less  to  examine  the  nature  of  it.  If  here  and  there  they 
have  found  a  kindly  soil,  capable  of  receiving  at  once  and  producing, 
the  greater  portion  must  be  regarded  "  as  fallow  ground,"  to  be  broken 
up  and  cultivated,  ere  the  expected  fruit  matures.  It  would  not  be 
surprising  if  all  the  deputies  had  not  come  up  to  the  expectation 
formed  ;  that  when  all  the  duties  were  new,  some  should  have  erred, 
should  have  been  indiscreet,  inefficient,  incapable ;  but  these  are  evils 
and  defects  which  every  succeeding  year  will  diminish. 

It  is  not  expected  that  the  appointment  of  deputies  will  at  once  cre- 
ate qualified  teachers,  build  suitable  school  houses,  infuse  into  parents 
an  interest  in  their  district  schools  ;  but  who  that  reads  their  reports 
can  doubt  but  that  they  have  already  done  something,  and  are  capable 
of  doing  much  more  in  renovating  our  school  system  ?  If  there  is  a 
probability  that  their  efforts  will  greatly  abate,  if  not  eradicate  the 
most  prominent  evils  and  abuses  existing,  can  we  hesitate  as  to  our 
duty  ?  Were  our  School  Fund  sunk  like  a  rain  drop  in  the  ocean,  then 
might  we  safely  dispense  with  our  deputy  system,  for  then  might  we 
hope  to  see  parents  once  more  the  faithful  inspectors  and  supervisors 
of  their  children's  schools.  But  if  with  no  equivalent  substitute,  we 
abandon  the  present  and  relapse  back  into  the  past,  shall  we  not  be 
faithless  to  our  trust,  false  to  the  true  interests  of  the  State,  false  to 
the  sacred  cause  of  popular  education  in  all  time  to  come  ? 

Your  committee  after  a  full  and  deliberate  investigation,  have  una- 
nimously concurred  in  recommending  the  preservation  of  the  deputy 
system;  believing  it  to  be,  with  the  additional  power  now  conferred, 
not  only  the  most  economical  and  efficient,  but  the  most  important  pro- 
vision in  our  complex  and  extensive  organization  of  public  instruction, 
and  anticipating  from  its  continuance  the  rapid  and  thorough  reforma- 
tion of  schools.  Some  may  deem  these  expectations  visionary,  but  the 
results  of  one  year,  and  that  the  first,  lead  us  confidently  to  look  for- 
ward, in  the  more  perfect  working  of  the  system,  for  greater  and  more 
widely  diffused,  physical,  moral  and  intellectual  good,  than  from  any 
of  the  numerous  measures  of  social  amelioration  that  claim  the  thoughts 
and  the  aid  of  the  statesman  or  the  philanthropist. 


APPENDIX.  37 

B. 

The  Voice  of  Be  Witt  Clinton. 

"  The  first  duty  of  government,  and  the  surest  evidence  of  good 
government,  is  the  encouragement  of  education.  A  general  diffusion 
of  knowledge  is  the  precursor  and  protector  of  republican  institutions, 
and  in  it  we  must  confide  as  the  conservative  power  that  will  watch 
over  our  liberties  and  guard  them  against  fraud,  intrigue,  corruption 
and  violence.  Our  system  of  instruction,  with  all  its  numerous  bene- 
fits, is  still,  however,  susceptible  of  great  improvements.  In  two  years 
the  elements  of  instruction  may  be  acquired,  and  the  remaining  yeara 
must  either  be  spent  in  repetition  or  idleness,  unless  the  teachers  of 
common  schools  are  competent  to  instruct  in  the  higher  branches  of 
knowledge.  The  outlines  of  Geography,  Algebra,  Mineralogy,  Agri- 
cultural Chemistry,  Mechanical  Philosophy,  Surveying,  Geometry,  As- 
tronomy, Political  Economy,  and  Ethics,  might  be  communicated  in 
that  period  of  time  by  able  preceptors,  without  essential  interference 
with  the  calls  of  domestic  industry.  The  vocation  of  a  teacher,  in  its 
influe7ice  on  the  character  and  destinies  of  the  rising,  and  all  future 
generations,  has  either  not  bee7i  fully  understood,  or  duly  estimated.     It 

IS,  OR  OUGHT  TO  BE,  RANKED  AMONG  THE  LEARNED  PROFESSIONS.  I  con- 
sider the  system  of  our  Common  Schools  as  the  palladium  of  our  free- 
dom, for  no  reasonable  apprehension  can  be  entertained  of  its  subver- 
sion, as  long  as  the  great  body  of  the  people  are  enlightened  by  educa- 
tion. To  increase  the  funds,  to  extend  the  benefits,  and  to  remedy  the 
defects  of  this  excellent  system,  is  worthy  of  your  most  deliberate  at- 
tention. I  cannot  recommend,  in  terms  too  strong  and  impressive,  as 
munificent  appropriations  as  the  facilities  of  this  State  will  authorize, 
for  all  establishments  connected  with  the  interests  of  education,  the 
exaltation  of  literature  and  science,  and  the  improvement  of  the  human 
mind. 

"The  great  bulwark  of  a  republican  government,  is  the  cultivation 
of  education  ;  for  the  right  of  suffrage  cannot  be  exercised  in  a  salu- 
tary manner  without  intelligence.  Ten  years  of  a  child's  life,  from 
five  to  fifteen,  may  be  spent  in  a  Common  School,  and  ought  this  im- 
mense portion  of  time  to  be  absorbed  in  learning  what  can  be  acquired  in 
a  short  period  ?  Perhaps  one-fourth  of  our  population  is  annually  in.- 
structed  in  our  Common  Schools,  and  ought  the  minds  and  the  morals 
of  the  future  generations  to  be  intrusted  to  the  guardianship  of  incom- 
petence ?  The  scale  of  instruction  must  be  elevated ;  the  standard  of 
education  ought  to  be  raised. 

Small  and  suitable  collections  of  books  and  maps  attached  to  our  Com- 
mon Schools,  and  periodical  examinations  to  test  the  proficieiicy  of  the 
scholars,  and  the  merits  of  the  teachers,  arc  ivorthy  of  attention.  When 
it  is  understood  that  objects  of  this  description  enter  into  the  very  forma- 
tion of  our  characters,  control  our  destinies  through  life,  protect  the 
freedom  and  advance  the  glory  of  our  country ;  and  that  this  is  the 
appropriate  soil  of  liberty  and  education,  let  it  be  our  pride,  as  it  is 

397466 


38  APPENDIX. 

our  duty,  to  spare  no  exertions,  and  to  shrink  from  no  expense  in  the 
promotion  of  a  cause  consecrated  by  religion,  and  enjoined  by  patriot- 
ism." De  Witt  Clinton. 


Extract  from  Gov.  Hubbard's  Address  to  the  Legislature  of  New  Hamp- 
shire, June,  1S43. 

"  Our  primary  schools  richly  deserve  at  all  times  the  patronage  and 
encouragement  of  the  legislature.  Our  government  is  based  upon  the 
virtue  of  the  people :  that  virtue  is  best  preserved  as  knowledge  shall 
be  most  diffused.  As  the  means  of  education,  the  nurseries  of  pure 
morals,  and  the  sources  of  undefiled  religion,  these  primary  institutions 
of  our  country  have  within  the  last  twelve  months  excited  much  of  the 
public  attention.  Anew  impulse  has  been  awakened  to  the  importance 
of  our  Common  Schools  for  the  spread  of  morality  and  religion,  for  the 
diffusion  of  intelligence  among  the  people,  and  for  the  preservation  of 
our  republican  institutions. 

"  Those  patriots  who  framed  the  constitution  of  our  State,  incorporated 
into  that  instrument  a  sentiment  worthy  of  themselves,  "  That  know- 
ledge and  learning  generally  diffused  through  a  community  were  essen- 
tial to  the  preservation  of  a  free  government,  and  that  it  was  the 
bounden  duty  of  legislators  and  magistrates  to  cherish  the  interests  of 
all  seminaries  and  public  schools."  This  injunction  of  our  political 
fathers  should  never  be  forgotten  or  disregarded  by  the  friends  of  popu- 
lar liberty.  In  my  first  address  to  the  legislature,  I  alluded  to  the 
republican  character  of  our  free  school  system.  I  then  remarked  that 
in  these  institutions  are  imparted  to  the  youth  of  our  State,  that  love 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  that  high  devotion  to  the  cause  of  human 
rights,  which  lead  to  the  unfailing  exertion  of  their  energies,  and  of 
their  efforts  for  the  security  of  individual  and  public  freedom.  The 
constitution  of  our  primary  schools  points  them  out  as  especially  merit- 
ing public  confidence  and  public  support.  The  scholars  in  those  semi- 
naries must  be  on  terms  of  strict  equality,  and  mingle  together  exclu- 
sively for  instruction.  The  children  of  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich — 
those  emanating  from  the  laboring  classes,  as  well  as  those  from  the 
independent  portions  of  our  community— enjoy  the  same  rights  and  the 
same  privileges — they  commence  their  course  of  study,  enter  upon  the 
acquisition  of  knowledge  under  like  influences  and  with  like  hopes. 
Our  primary  schools  may  well  be  denominated  public  institutions :  they 
are  sustained  at  the  public  charge,  are  dedicated  to  the  use  of  all  the 
youth  of  certain  ages  within  the  limits  of  our  State  ;  and  a  direct  be- 
nefi'  is  periodically  realized  by  the  education  of  the  sons  and  daugh- 
ters of  our  republic.  Our  free  school  system  may  well  be  considered 
as  the  heart  of  the  bod}'  politic,  and  the  streams  which  are  continually 
flowing  from  it,  give  health,  vigor  and  strength  to  the  members  of  our 
community. 


APPENDIX.  39 

"It  has  been  matter  of  complaint,  that  our  primary  schools  were  not 
receiving  that  encouragement  from  the  hands  of  the  legislature  which 
they  ought  to  receive.  Academies  and  High  Schools,  it  is  said,  have 
been  multiplied  in  our  land  to  the  neglect  of  those  primary  institutions 
which  should  be  our  pride  and  boast,  and  which  should  receive,  as  they 
merit,  our  constant  care  and  support. 

"  Far  be  it  from  me  to  say  any  thing  which  might  tend  to  discourage 
that  public  and  benevotent  spirit  manifested  in  providing  for  the  tho- 
rough education  of  any  portion  of  our  community.  If  the  effect  of 
multiplying  other  literary  and  scientific  institutions  be  to  break  down 
our  Common  Schools,  to  change  their  character  and  impair  their  use- 
fulness, all  the  true  friends  of  a  general  diffusion  of  knowledge  and 
learning  would  regret  the  tendency  of  any  causes  to  produce  any  such 
efllect.  There  is,  however,  within  the  power  of  the  legislature  at  any 
time,  a  perfect  remedy  for  any  such  evil.  Elevate  the  character  of  our 
primary  schools.  Place  within  the  reach  of  the  most  depressed  son  of 
poverty  within  our  State,  the  means  of  obtaining  a  thorough  English 
education  through  the  influence  of  these  free  seminaries  of  learning. 
Let  there  be  such  a  division  (wherever  practicable)  of  the  youth,  that 
the  younger  scholars  may  constitute  an  exclusive  class  to  receive  such 
instruction  as  they  would  require ;  and  let  the  scholars  more  advanced 
in  attainments,  be  placed  under  the  exclusive  guidance  and  instruction 
of  those  well  qualified  to  teach  the  higher  branches  of  an  English  edu- 
cation. 

"  It  is  a  reproach  to  our  free  school  system,  that  the  higher  branches 
of  Mathematics,  Philosophy  and  Political  Economy  can  only  be  ac- 
quired at  our  Academies  and  High  Schools.  This  should  not  be  so. 
An  invidious  feeling  is  thereby  engendered  among  the  yomh  of  our 
State,  and  one  of  the  great  objects  of  our  free  primary  schools  is  thereby 
defeated,  and  that  is,  the  opportunity  of  giving  to  the  poorer  classes  of 
our  community  as  thorough  an  English  education  as  can  be  attained 
elsewhere  ;  and  thus  fitting  them  to  perform  the  duties  which  may  de- 
volve upon  them  as  citizens  of  the  republic." 


C  1. 
Constitution  of  a  Town  Association. 

We,  the  undersigned.  Teachers  of  Common  Schools  and  friends  of 
popular  education,  in  the  town  of  and  in  the  county  of 

for  the  purpose  of  promoting  our  mutual  advancement 
in  knowledge,  and  for  the  better  discharge  of  our  duties  as  teachers, 
parents,  and  guardians  of  children  and  youth,  do  hereby  form  ourselves 
into  an  Association,  and  agree  to  be  regulated  and  governed  by  the 
Constitution  below  written  : 

Article  1. — This  Association  shall  be  styled  the  Common  School 
Teachers'  Association  of 


40  APPENDIX. 

Article  2. — The  Officers  of  this  Association  shall  be  a  Pre:  ident,  Vice- 
President,  a  Recording  and  Corresponding  Secretary,  who  shall  be 
chosen  by  ballot  by  the  members  of  this  Association,  and  who  shall 
hold  their  offices  for  one  month,  and  until  others  are  chosen. 

Article  3. — This  Association  shall  meet  at  o'clock  on  Saturday 

afternoon,  once  in  two  weeks,  at  such  place  as  shall  be  agreed  upon 
at  the  meeting  next  preceding,  and  the  first  meeting  shall  be  held  at 
the  School  House  in  District  No. 

Article  4. — The  President  shall  preside  at  all  meetings,  and  in  his 
absence  the  Vice-President,  and  in  the  absence  of  both,  the  Association 
shall  choose  by  open  nomination  and  hand  vote,  a  president  pro  tempore. 

Article  5. — The  Recording  Secretary  shall  keep  a  book  of  minutes 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  Association,  in  which  all  matters  discussed, 
votes  taken,  and  officers  elected,  shall  be  recorded  in  a  regular  manner, 
and  the  minutes  of  the  meeting  next  preceding  shall  be  read  at  the 
meeting  ensuing,  corrected  and  adopted. 

Article  6. — At  every  meeting  of  the  Association,  an  essay  shall  be 
read  upon  the  subject  of  teaching  and  the  management  of  Schools,  by 
some  member  who  shall  have  been  appointed  for  that  purpose  by  the 
President,  at  a  regular  meeting  two  weeks  previous. 

Article  7. — All  matters  discussed  before  this  Association  shall  have 
reference  to  teaching  and  the  management  of  schools,  and  shall  be 
proposed  in  writing  two  weeks  previous  to  their  discussion. 

Article  8. — The  meetings  of  this  Association  shall  be  private,  unless 
otherwise  directed  by  a  vote  of  its  members. 

Article  9. — It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  members  of  this  Association, 
by  and  with  the  consent  and  aid  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  districts  in 
which  they  are  respectively  employed,  once  in  each  year,  to  prepare 
themselves,  and  as  many  of  their  pupils  as  may  be  practicable,  for  a 
public  examination;  at  which  all  the  Common  Schools  in  the  town 
shall  be  invited  to  attend  and  to  take  part  in  its  exercises. 

Article  10. — At  the  public  examination,  each  teacher  shall  examine 
his  own  pupils  for  such  time  as  shall  have  been  previously  agreed  upon 
in  relation  to  the  different  studies  they  shall  have  pursued. 

Article  11. — Any  person  of  good  moral  character  may  become  a  mem- 
ber of  this  Association  by  subscribing  its  constitution  and  paying  to  the 
President,  who  is  hereby  made  Treasurer,  the  sum  of  twenty-five  cents 
annually. 

Article  12. — The  New- York  District  School  Journal  shall  be  the 
organ  of  this  Association;  in  it  shall  be  published  such  proceedings  as 
the  Association  may  direct,  and  each  member  shall  use  his  influence  to 
extend  its  circulation. 

Article  13. — This  Constitution  may  be  amended  by  a  vote  of  two" 
thirds  of  its  members,  provided  notice  in  writing  of  the  proposed  amend- 
ment shall  have  been  given  four  weeks  previous  to  the  meeting  at 
which  the  said  amendment  is  to  be  acted  upon. 


APPENDIX.  41 

Constitution  of  a  County  Association. 

We,  the  undersigned,  regarding  thorough  and  universal  education 
as  the  first  duty  of  a  free  State,  and  the  greatest  blessing  to  indivi- 
duals, for  the  purpose  of  elevating  the  character,  increasing  the  effi- 
ciency of  our  Common  Schools,  and  securing  more  generally  to  chil- 
dren and  youth  the  advantages  of  right  instruction,  do  hereby  form 
ourselves  into  a  County  Association,  and  do  agree  to  be  regulated  and 
governed  by  the  Constitution  below  written  : 

Article  1. — This  Association  shall  be  styled  the  County 

Common  School  Association, 
b      Article  2. — Any  person  of  good  moral  character  may  become  a  mem- 
ber of  this  Association  by  subscribing  this  Constitution  and  paying  an- 
nually to  the  Treasurer  the  sum  of 

Article  3. — The  Officers  of  this  Association  shall  be  a  President,  two 
Vice-Presidents,  a  Corresponding  and  a  Recording  Secretary,  who  shall 
hold  their  offices  for  one  year  and  until  others  are  chosen. 

Article  4. — There  shall  be  an  Executive  Board,  consisting  of  the 
officers  of  this  Association,  the  county  and  town  Superintendents  of 
Common  Schools,  and  such  other  members  as  the  Association  may  ap- 
point at  the  annual  meeting,  who  shall  have  charge  of  the  general  busi- 
ness of  the  Association,  and  shall  also  from  time  to  time  perform  such 
special  duties  as  may  be  required.  This  Board  shall  appoint  from  its 
members  a  committee,  a  majority  of  whom  shall  constitute  a  quorum 
for  the  transaction  of  business. 

Article  5. — The  President  shall  preside  at  all  meetings  of  the  Asso- 
ciation and  Executive  Board,  and  in  his  absence,  one  of  the  Vice- 
Presidents,  and  in  the  absence  of  both  President  and  Vice-Presidents, 
the  Association  or  Board  shall  choose,  by  open  nomination,  a  president 
pro  tempore. 

Article  6. — The  Recording  Secretary  shall  keep  full  minutes  of  all 

'  the  proceedings  of  the  Association  and  Executive  Board.     The  minutes 

of  each  meeting  of  the  Association  and  Executive  Board  shall  be  read 

at  its  close,  and  when  corrected  and  approved,  shall  be  recorded  in  a 

fair  hand  and  preserved. 

Article  7. — The  Corresponding  Secretary  shall  communicate  with 
kindred  Associations,  and  with  individuals  who  are  engaged  in  pro- 
moting and  advancing  the  cause  of  education,  and  to  procure  by  all 
means  in  his  power,  such  facts  and  information  as  will  be  serviceable 
to  this  Association  in  attaining  the  objects  for  which  it  is  formed. 

Article  8. — The  annual  meeting  of  this  Association  shall  be  held  at 
the  village  of  on  the  Wednesday  following  the  second 

Monday  in  September.  There  shall  also  be  special  meetings  of  the 
Association  at  such  times  and  places  as  the  Executive  Board  may  ap- 
point. 

Article  9. — An  address  to  the  Association  shall  be  made  by  some 


4s 


APPENDIX, 


competent  person  at  each  annual  meeting,  who  with  an  alternate,  shall 
be  selected  by  the  Association  at  the  annual  meeting  next  preceding 
that  at  which  his  address  is  to  be  made. 

Article  10. — The  Executive  Board  shall  at  the  time  of  each  annual 
meeting  thoroughly  and  impartially  examine  such  persons  as  may  offer 
themselves  as  candidates  for  State  Licenses  to  teach  Common  Schools, 
and  shall  recommend  such  as  they  may  deem  qualified  for  that  high 
honor. 

Article  11. — The  Executive  Board  shall  tfioroughly  and  impartially 
examine  all  Text-books  which  are  proposed  to  be  used  in  the  Common 
Schools  of  the  county,  and  it  is  earnestly  and  respectfully  recommended 
to  parents  and  teachers  to  abstain  from  introducing  new  books  into  the 
Common  Schools,  until  the  approbation  of  the  Executive  Board  shall 
have  been  expressed. 

Article  12. — The  President  shall  appoint  such  a  number  of  members 
of  this  Association  as  he  may  deem  proper  to  prepare  from  time  to  time, 
and  submit  essays  upon  such  interesting  topics  connected  with  education 
as  he  may  designate,  or  the  member  appointed  may  elect,  which  essays 
shall  be  read  before  the  Association. 

Article  13. — It  shall  be  the  duty  of  this  Association  to  encourage  such 
persons  as  it  may  consider  well  adapted  to  become  useful  teachers  of 
Common  Schools,  in  all  practicable  cases,  to  enter  the  Teachers'  De- 
partment and  Class  in  all  Academies,  where  such  a  department  or  class 
has  been  instituted,  or  to  unite  and  form  a  temporary  Normal  School, 
so  that  thorough  preparation  may  in  all  cases  be  made  for  the  prompt 
and  efficient  discharge  of  the  duty  of  teachers. 

Article  14. — This  Association  shall  recommend  and  encourage  the 
formation  of  Town  Associations  for  the  advancement  of  the  cause  of 
education,  and  for  the  improvement  of  the  Common  Schools. 

Article  15. — The  New-York  District  School  Journal  shall  be  the 
organ  of  this  Association  ;  in  it  shall  be  published  such  proceedings  as 
the  Executive  Board  may  direct,  and  its  circulation  shall  be  encouraged 
and  promoted  by  this  Association. 

Article  16. — This  Constitution  may  be  amended  by  a  vote  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  members  present  at  any  regular  meeting. 


APPENDIX  D. 


Extract  from  the  Speech  of  the  Hon.  R.  D.  Davis,  delivered  before  the 
Literary  Societies  of  Geneva  College,  on  the  1st  of  August,  1843 : 
"  When  society  permits  men  to  provide  for  themselves  and  to  accu- 
mulate ^uch  property  as  they  can  lawfully  acquire,  that  very  permis- 
sion creates  a  duty  and  binds  each  to  work  out  his  own  subsistence 
without  any  infringement  of  the  same  privilege  in  others.  Men  are 
made  equal  in  this  chance  of  accumulation,  and  it  is  against  all  the 


APPENDIX.  43 

principles  of  equal  rights,  for  any  one  man  to  take  from  another  what 
belongs  to  him ;  and  they  who  live  on  others,  whether  by  force  or 
fraud,  by  the  pretence  of  business  and  position,  or  any  other  cheating, 
violate  the  fast  foundations  of  all  society,  and  ought  not  to  be  accounted 
reputable  within  it.  Educated  and  professional  men  are  apt  to  fancy 
that  they  must  support  a  certain  style  in  life  whatever  may  be  their 
income,  and  it  is  but  too  common  to  see  them  reckless  and  indifferent 
to  every  thing  like  probity  and  independence  in  their  pecuniary  affairs. 
I  advise  you  to  take  the  opposite  course ;  to  make  it  your  first  object  to 
live  within  your  means,  and  your  next  to  amass  some  property.  No 
matter  if  your  income  be  small,  still  live  within  it,  and  lay  up  some- 
thing. A  man  who.  cannot  save  something  out  of  a  small  income, 
never  will  do  it  out  of  a  large  one.  It  is  of  no  moment  that  you  can 
save  only  a  trifle,  for  it  is  not  the  amount  that  you  begin  with  or  can 
then  save,  that  is  any  thing,  but  the  art,  the  secret,  the  ability  to  do 
it,  and  the  habit  of  doing  it ;  this  is  the  important  matter,  the  thing 
that  will  be  of  value  to  you  and  facilitate  and  insure  your  future  suc- 
cess, when  you  can  save- that  which  will  be  worth  possessing.  I  do  not 
care  to  have  you  grow  into  great  wealth,  for  that  is  neither  a  benefit 
nor  a  blessing  to  any  man ;  but  I  am  anxious  to  impress  you  with  the 
importance  of  securing  a  competence,  a  reasonable  independence,  for 
without  it  the  temptations,  trials  and  exigencies  of  life  may  impair 
your  integrity,  usefulness  and  honor.  If  he  be  dishonest  who  does 
wrong  to  supply  his  wants,  he  must  be  twice  a  knave  who  will  do  it 
to  add  to  his  abundance. 

"  Indebtedness  is  bondage,  and  the  man  who  allows  himself  to  incur 
obligations  that  he  cannot  pay,  to  live  on  at  the  expense  and  loss  of 
others,  or  to  risk  what  he  cannot  lose,  must  be  so  dormant  in  his  moral 
sense  that  he  is  dangerous  to  himself  and  others.  The  course  that  I 
have  recommended  to  you  to  pursue,  will  do  more  than  to  benefit  your- 
selves, for  it  will  lead  you  into  those  habits,  manners  and  principles, 
which  lie  at  the  foundation  of  all  private  and  public  welfare ;  it  will 
make  you  patterns  and  examples  of  probity,  prudence  and  propriety  in 
your  respective  communities ;  and  it  will  conciliate  and  reconcile  and 
attach  those  who  cannot  have  the  advantages  which  you  have  possessed 
to  that  cause  of  education  which  shall  through  you  requite  to  the  mass 
of  men  a  benignant  and  beneficial  return  for  their  allowance,  encou- 
ragement and  sanction ;  and  it  will  show  to  the  world  that  education  is 
not  and  need  not  be  hostile,  but  may  be  and  through  you.  is  of  service 
to  the  whole,  and  not  to  you  only,  but  to  others  and  to  all.  Kely  upon 
it,  that  the  plain  and  every  day  virtues  and  excellencies  of  life  make  up 
ail  that  is  most  valuable  in  the  world.  Talent,  education,  manners, 
fashion,  elegance,  magnificence,  may  and  do  adorn  and  grace  these 
homely  traits,  but  without  the  sterling  and  standard  attributes  of  cha- 
racter, they  are  a  nuisance  and  a  curse.  You,  as  educated  and  elevated 
men,  must  cast  your  influence  where  it  can  do  the  most  good,  and  thus 
repay  to  the  world  an  adequate  and  an  honest  recompense  for  the  bles- 


.44  APPENDIX. 

sings  and  benefits,  the  privileges  and  advantages  which  Providence  au(t 
society  have  bestowed  upon  you." 


The  following  extract  from  a  speech  of  Henry  Barnard,  Esq.,  State 
Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  of  Rhode  Island,  delivered  at  the 
State  Convention  at  Syracuse,  1845,  shows  in  what  light  he  regards  the 
offices  of  State  and  County  Superintendents  of  Common  Schools,  as 
they  now  exist  by  statute  in  this  State.  Mr.  Barnard  is  a  gentleman  of 
extensive  scientific  and  literary  attainments,  and,  has  for  years  devoted 
all  his  powers  to  the  investigation  and  defence  of  Popular  Education. 
He  has  travelled  extensively  in  the  United  States  and  in  Europe,  and 
his  opinions  are  the  result  Of  long  and  attentive  observation. 

"  The  most  admirable  feature  in  your  school  system  is  the  provision 
for  County  Superintendents — the  enlisting  the  services  of  fifty  or  sixty  in- 
telligent men,  acting  under  the  specific  requirements  of  the  school  law, 
and  the  general  directions  of  the  head  of  the  school  department,  directly 
upon  every  school,  and  every  teacher,  and  every  district  and  town  school 
officer,  and  very  widely  upon  the  parents  of  children,  as  well  as  the  chil- 
dren themselves,  within  their  corporate  limits.  There  is  nothing  to  be 
compared  with  this  in  the  school  system  of  any  other  State.  Under  the 
continued  operation  of  this  plan  of  supervision  the  spirit  of  improvement 
must  be  aroused,  and  must  pervade  every  town  and  every  district  in  the 
State.  Defects  in  school  houses,  in  methods  of  government,  and  instruc- 
tion, in  the  classification  of  schools,  in  the  arrangement  of  studies,  in  the 
character,  attainments,  and  views  of  teachers,  and  in  school  books,  must 
be  discovered,  discussed,  and  the  appropriate  remedies  pointed  out.  Lo- 
cal and  individual  improvements  must  be  made  known,  and  become  the 
properly  of  the  whole  county,  and  through  the  District  School  Journal, 
and  the  annual  reports  of  the  Superintendents,  become  the  common  prop- 
erty of  the  whole  State.  That  there  should  be  some  friction  in  the  work- 
ing of  this  new  wheel  in  your  system,  that  there  should  be  some  unwise 
things  said  or  done,  or  some  wise  things  unsaid  or  undone  somewhere, 
over  so  great  a  field  of  operation,  is  not  to  be  wondered  at — and  that  there 
should  be  complaints  of  various  kinds,  fostered  it  is  to  be  feared  in  some 
cases  by  demagogues,  and  in  most  cases  growing  out  of  ignorance  and 
interested  motives,  is  very  natural.  But  these  things  will  disappear  un- 
der the  faithful,  intelligent,  and  continued  action  of  these  officers,  whose 
reports  and  whose  attendance  year  after  year,  in  such  Conventions  as 
these,  is  the  best  evidence  of  their  usefulness  and  of  their  fitness  for  the 
office  which  they  fill.  I  should  look  upon  it  as  a  calamity  to  the  cause 
of  school  improvement  in  other  States,  should  this  experiment  of  County 
Supervision  be  arrested  or  defeated  at  this  time.  There  is  nothing  in  all 
the  wise  legislation  of  your  State  in  regard  to  public  instruction,  unless  it 
be  in  the  liberal  appropriation  for  district  libraries,  which  the  friends  of 
public  education  elsewhere  are  so  anxious  to  see  adopted  into  the  school 
systems'  of  their  respective  States.  Its  abolition  would  everywhere  be 
regarded  as  a  long  stride  backward.  It  would  be  better  to  curtail  the 
amount  distributed  to  the  schools  for  other  purposes,  than  to  save  in  the 
compensation  for  this  class  of  officers,  whose  labors  at  least  double  the 
value  of  all  your  school  expenditures,  by  awakening  and  diffusing  public 
and  parental  interest,  and  giving  life,  intelligence,  and  progress,  to  teach- 
ers and  local  school  officers." 


Extract  from  Mr.  Henry's  Address  to  the  Board  of  Supervisors  of 
the  county  of  Herkimer,  at  their  meeting  in  Nov.  1845  : — 

The  imperative  duty  of  educating,  or  forming  aright  the  character  of 
the  young,  is  solemnly  enjoined  upon  us  in  every  page  of  our  country's 
history. — The  unanimous  voice  of  the  Sages,  Patriots  and  Heroes,  whose 
united  action  gave  us  the  glorious  heritage  of  free  institutions,  bids  us 
ever  preserve  a  watchful  care  over  the  formation  of  youthful  character, 
assuring  us  that  public  liberty  cannot,  for  one  moment,  exist  after  intelli- 
gence and  virtue  have  ceased  to  be  diffused  among  the  masses  of  the 
People.  This  is  the  grand  moral  of  American  History — the  cardinal 
maxim  of  American  Politics. 

The  late  distinguished  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  the  Hon. 
Samuel  Young — whose  efficient  and  judicious  action,  as  a  School  officer, 
is  cordially  and  unanimously  approved  by  the  wise  and  patriotic  of  every 
sect  and  party — has  recently  and  publicly  declared,  that  the  subject  of 
popular  education  is  second  in  importance  to  no  other  claiming  the  atten- 
tion of  a  free  People.  In  the  justness  of  this  sentiment,  I  cannot  for  a 
single  moment  doubt  that  every  gentleman  of  this  Board  unreservedly 
concurs  ;  and  I  am  confident  that  each  is  unalterably  resolved  that  lliis 
great  and  vital  interest  shall  never  suffer  by  carelessness  in  the  perform- 
ance of  any  act  in  relation  to  it,  with  which  he  is  charged. 

The  duty  of  appointing  County  Superintendents  is  by  law  assigned  to 
the  Boards  of  Supervisors ;  and  safer  and  more  discreet  depositaries  of" 
this  delicate  and  responsible  power  do  not  exist.  The  selections  which 
have  been  made  for  four  years  past,  almost  uniformly  attest,  that  sound 
judgment  and  discretion,  competent  literary  and  scientific  attainments, 
unblemished  moral  character,  and  ardent  and  untiring  devotion  to  the 
great  cause  of  popular  instruction,  have  been  the  only  effectual  recom- 
mendations which  have  led  to  these  appointments  ;  and  while  selections 
for  this  office  shall  be  influenced  only  by  such  considerations,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  action  of  these  officers  will  be  highly  conducive  to 
the  prosperity  and  salutary  influence  of  the  Common  Schools. 

It  has  been  objected  by  some  that  the  system  of  supervising  the 
schools  through  the  agency  of  County  and  Town  Superintendents,  is 
complicated  and  expensive.  To  this  objection  it  may  be  truly  answered, 
that  while  this  system  is  far  more  efficient  and  salutary,  its  expense  is  at 
least  one-third  less  than  that  of  any  system  which  has  preceded  it.  The 
true  standard  by  which  to  determine  the  value  of  our  Common  School 
System  is  the  influence  it  exerts  upon  the  character  of  its  pupils  and  of 
the  public  at  large. 

To  all  objections  that  may  be  urged  against  our  Common  School  Sys- 
tem on  account  of  its  expense,  it  may  be  properly  answered,  that  it  will 
always  be  safer  and  better  economy  to  appropriate  hundreds  for  educa- 
tion, than  hundreds  of  thousands  for  the  suppression  of  insurrectioa  and 
rebellion. 


4&  APPENDJX. 

The  common  school  system  of  New  York,  comprising  its  eleven  thou- 
sand school  districts,  with  its  free  library  in  each  of  them  ;  its  state, 
county,  and  town  superintendents  ;  its  Normal  school,  and  Teachers'  In- 
stitutes ;  its  District  School  Journal,  and  Teachers'  Advocate  ;  its  State, 
County,  and  Town  Associations  of  Teachers ;  its  siX' or  seven  hundred  thou- 
sand of  pupils;  its  intelligent,  harmonious,  and  efficient  action,  has  ex- 
cited the  wonder  and  admiration  of  every  state  in  our  Union — many  of 
which  have  already  paid  us  the  high  compliment  of  essentially  adopting 
it  by  legislative  enactments.  The  record  of  this  glorious  system  will 
hereafter  glow  upon  the  impartial  page  of  history  as  the  proudest  mon- 
ument of  our  legislation.  Indeed,  it  has  been  already  pronounced  by  the 
Hon.  Horace  Mann,  and  a  more  competent  judge  does  not  exist,  the  best 
common  school  system  in  the  world.  The  following  is  the  description  of 
our  system  as  given  by  that  accomplished,  able,  and  indefatigable  cham- 
pion of  popular  education  in  the  Massachusetts  Common  School  Journal, 
of  July  15,  1845: 

"  New  York  has  the  best  common  school  system  ia  the  world  The  state  has  a  mag- 
nificent fund.  There  is  a  library  in  every  school  district.  Provisions  are  made  for  intro- 
ducing apparatus  into  all  the  schools.  It  has  a  Normal  school  for  the  preparation  of 
teachers  ;  and  it  has  devised  the  plan  of  Teachers'  Institutes,  which  are  short  Normal 
schools.  An  educational  paper  is  also  sent,  at  the  expense  of  the  state,  to  every  school 
district  in  it.  The  school  system  of  New  York  is  not  only  superior  in  its  structure  and 
organization,  but  it  is  worked  with  more  efficiency  than  any  other.  Indeed,  the  working 
may  be  said  to  result  from  the  structure.  It  goes  easily,  powerfully,  and  with  as  .^ittle 
friction  as  such  a  vast  piece  of  machinery  could  be  expected  to  do." 

The  history  of  the  reform  which  has  been  achieved  in  our  common 
school  system,  has  gflready  become  a  subject  of  deep  interest  5  and  those 
who  originated  its  plan,  or  afterwards  aided  in  its  progress,  are  now  very 
generally  receiving  credit  for  good  services  performed  for  their  country. 

Perhaps  it  may  not  be  inappropriate  to  the  present  occasion,  briefly  to 
review  the  proceedings  of  the  people  of  this  county  for  several  years 
past  in  relation  to  this  interesting  topic.  In  the  fall  of  1836,  a  conven- 
tion of  the  friends  of  popular  education  and  common  school  reform,  was 
called  to  meet  in  January  next  ensuing.  , 

In  pursuance  of  this  call,  a  convention  assembled  at  the  court- 
house, on  the  third  day  of  January,  1837.  Of  this  convention,  Hon,  N. 
S.  Benton  was  chosen  president,  Henry  Ellison,  and  Ephraim  Tisdale, 
Esqrs.,  vice  presidents,  and  E.  A.  Munson,  Esq.,  secretary. 

From  the  series  of  resolutions,  reported  by  Lauren  Ford,  Esq.,  and 
adopted  by  th^  convention,  the  following  is  an  extract : 

"  Resolved,  That  this  convention  do  respectfully  suggest  to  the  legislature  of  this 
state,  the  propriety  of  providing  by  law  for  the  appointment  and  payment  of  a  general 
instracter  of  common  schools  for  each  county,  or  given  number  of  school  districts,  whoso 
time  shall  be  exclusively  devoted  to  the  personal  inspection  and  superintendence  of  all 
the  schools  in  his  district  or  county,  with  such  powers,  and  subject  to  such  regulations, 
as  joay  be  adopted  by  a  general  superintendent  for  the  state,  or  by  a  board  of  county 
inspectors,  as  the  legislature  may  provide." 

From  the  address  to  the  people,  reported  by  J.  Henry,  jun.,  and 
adopted  by  that  convention,  the  following  is  an  extract : 


APPENDIX.  47 

"  It  is  believed  that  a  more  thorough  supervision  of  our  schools  is  necessary  to  their 
success.  The  superintendence  of  the  education  of  half  a  million  children  and  youth,  is 
a  task  equal  to  the  undivided  energies  of  the  most  competent  individual,  even  when  aided 
by  a  board  of  education  and  all  necessary  sub-agents.  This  duty,  in  our  state,  has  hith> 
erto  been  incidentally  performed  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  has  been  as  efficient 
and  salutary  as  could  be  expected  under  the  circumstances  of  the  case ;  but  we  believe 
the  able  otTicer  now  filling  that  station  (Gen.  Dix)  would  unreservedly  concur  with  us 
in  our  views  upon  this  subject.  We  hope  soon  to  number  a  minister  of  public  instruc- 
tion among  our  state  officers,  and  to  see  that  minister  advised  and  aided  by  a  state  board 
of  education,  and  also  by  active  county  inspectors  of  common  schools." 

Such  were  the  recommendations  of  the  people  of  this  county  more 
than  four  years  before  the  passage  of  our  present  school  act ;  nor  does 
their  action  here  terminate.  The  bill,  as  originally  reported,  gave  the 
appointment  of  county  superintendents  to  the  secretary  of  state.  On  the 
suggestion  of  the  Hon.  A.  Loomis,  then  member  of  the  assembly  from 
this  county,  it  was  so  amended  as  to  give  the  appointment  of  these  officers 
to  the  board  of  supervisors ;  and  when  so  amended,  it  was  supported  by 
the  votes  of  both  Messrs.  Loomis  and  Hoffinan.  This  amendment  was  a 
most  important  one  ;  for  such  is  the  jealousy  of  central  power,  that  with- 
out it,  the  act,  in  all  human  probability,  would  have  been  long  since  re- 
pealed. 

Lastly,  a  citizen  of  this  county,  one  who  has  been  most  active  and 
prominent,  in  recommending  the  reforms  which,  in  practice,  have  proved 
so  beneficial — the  Hon.  N.  S.  Benton — has  been  recently  called  to  the 
superintendency  of  our  unrivalled  common  school  system.  At  the  late 
Syracuse  Convention  of  County  Superintendents,  he  publicly  declared 
that  his  original  views  had  been  confirmed  rather  than  changed  by  hia 
observation  of  the  practical  effects  of  our  present  common  school  organi- 
zation, and  that  it  was  his  fixed  resolution  to  devote  his  best  powers  to 
make  it  as  efficient  and  salutary  in  action  as  it  is  judicious  and  compre- 
hensive in  principle.  In  the  fulfilment  of  this  resolution,  he  will  be  aided 
and  sustained  by  the  cordial  co-operation  of  the  people  of  New  York  ; 
but  in  no  part  of  the  state,  judging  from  their  past  history,  will  his 
efforts  be  more  cheerfully,  perseveringly,  and  effectually  supported  than 
in  the  county  of  Herkimer. 

One  of  the  most  striking  and  valuable  characteristics  of  our  common 
school  system  is  its  entire  destitution  of  sectarian  or  party  prejudice.  It 
is  reared  in  that  liberal,  though  catholic  spirit,  which  so  generally  per- 
vades the  constitution  of  the  Union  ;  establishing  a  perfect  equality  of 
rights,  and  diffusing  its  benefits,  like  the  dews  of  heaven,  alike  on  the 
rich  and  poor.  We  trace  such  a  spirit  in  the  conduct  of  those  distin- 
guished citizens  who  have,  from  time  to  time,  been  charged  with  the 
administration  of  the  system.  Hence  we  see  a  Young  publicly  and 
magnanimously  surrendering  his  preconceived  opinions,  perfecting  the 
details,  and  with  all  the  indomitable  energies  of  his  soul,  entering  into 
and  carrying  out  in  practice  the  admirable  arrangements  of  the  sagacious 
and  accomplished  Spencer.  On  such  conduct,  indicating  the  purest  ard 
loftiest  virtue,  the  patriot  and  philanthropist  will  always  dwell  with  ever- 
increasing  delight.  When  we  contemplate  this  magnificent  system  of 
popular  instruction,  reared  by  the  united  intelligence  and  wisdom  of  our 
whole  people  ;  when  we  think  of  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  human 
beings  whose  minds  are  to  be  enlightened,  whose  souls  are  to  be  purified 
by  the  precious  influences  which  it  is  constantly  sending  forth,  is  it  too 
much  to  hope  and  believe,  that  in  reference  to  this  great  cause,  "  we 
shall  all  of  us  grow  candid,  and  bury  in  silence  the  odious  epithets  of 
party  distinction  ?" 


48  AFPENDI  X. 

It  is  now  ten  years  since  I  became  a  resident  in  this  county  ;  ana 
during  that  whole  period,  the  improvement  of  our  common  schools  has 
been  one  of  the  chief  objects  of  my  pursuit.  For  four  years  past,  I  have 
been  exclusively  employed  in  investigating  the  great  principles  upon 
which  useful  and  practical  education  is  based,  and  in  the  performance  of 
my  official  duties.  In  view  of  this  long  period  of  service,  I  trust  that  I 
may  now  respectfully  announce  that  I  am  no  longer  a  candidate  for  the 
officie  of  county  superintendent. 

Be  pleased,  gentlemen,  to  accept  my  cordial  thanks  for  the  confidence 
which  you  and  your  predecessors  have  reposed  in  me.  The  relations 
which  have  existed  between  me  and  the  several  boards  of  supervisors, 
during  both  my  official  terms,  will  ever  be  a  subject  of  grateful  remem- 
brance. Permit  me,  through  you,  to  make  public  acknowledgment  of 
the  many  tributes  of  regard  bestowed  upon  me  by  the  good  citizens  of 
Herkimer  county — to  return  them  my  sincere  thanks,  for  the  generous 
hospitality  with  which  they  have  ever  welcomed  me  to  their  well-fur- 
nished  and  happy  homes.  Never  will  the  recollection  of  their  generosity 
be  effaced  from  my  memory.  More  true  and  constant  friends  I  have 
never  known  ;  and  to  the  last  day  of  my  life,  my  ardent  prayers  shall 
be  offered  for  their  happiness  and  prosperity. 

On  the  conclusion  of  Mr.  Henry's  remarks,  George  Avery,  Esq., 
Supervisor  of  Salisbury,  offered  the  following  resolution,  which  was 
adopted  unanimously  : — 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  this  Board  be  tendered  to  James  Henry,  Jr.,  £^.,  late 
County  Superintendent  of  Common  Schools,  for  the  ability  and  fidelity  with  which  he 
has  discharged  the  duties  of  that  office ;  and  that  in  the  opinion  of  this  Board,  liis  retire- 
ment is  a  severe  loss  to  the  cause  of  education  in  this  county  and  State. 


ii.< 

|>i> 


51 


The  following  remarks  upon  text  books  are  for  the  most  part  extracted 
from  a  Report  on  that  subject  made  to  a  County  Convention  of  Town 
Superintendents,  assembled  at  Little  Falls,  N.  Y.,  June  14,  1844: 

While  the  importance  and  necessity  of  text  books  have  been  over-esti- 
mated by  many,  others  have  passed  to  the  opposite  extreme,  and  advanced 
the  doctrine  that  these  works  may  be  dispensed  with  altogether.  The 
latter  of  these  errors  will  at  present,  I  doubt  not,  be  found  in  practice  the 
greater  evil.  If  all  teachers  were  such  thorough  and  accomplished  mas- 
ters as  to  supply  promptly  and  correctly  from  their  own  resources,  and  at 
the  same  time,  the  office  of  text  book  and  tutor,  then  would  I  cordially 
unite  in  an  effort  to  discontinue  all  further  discussion  upon  this  vexed 
question,  and  lay  all  text  books  aside.  But  sanguine  as  I  am  in  my  an- 
ticipations of  the  onward  course  of  educational  reform,  I  do  not  expect  to 
live  to  that  time  when  all  printed  instructions  for  teachers  can  be  dis- 
pensed with  without  detriment  to  the  schools.  It  is  a  fallacy  to  suppose 
that  what  a  few  perfect  masters  can  achieve,  may  be  readily  attained  by 
all  who  will  be  employed  to  teach.  Text  books  will  be  found,  for  many 
years  to  come,  eminently  useful ;  and  the  author  of  good  ones,  and  the 
individual  who  aids  in  placing  them  in  the  schools,  are  engaged  in  worthy 
and  patriotic  labors. 

It  cannot  be  reasonably  expected  that  any  recommendation  that  can  be 
made  will  be  universally  approved.  The  subject  is  one  respecting  which 
there  is  necessarily  considerable  diversity  of  opinion.  Few,  if  any,  books 
have  yet  reached  the  greatest  perfection ;  besides,  authors,  publishers, 
and  booksellers,  naturally  enough  persuade  themselves  that  the  works  in 
which  they  are  interested  are  preferable  to  their  competitors.  Still,  by 
the  application  of  some  general  principles,  a  harmony  of  opinion  will  be 
developed  to  a  greater  extent  than  would  at  first  view  seem  possible. 

It  is  now  commonly  agreed,  that  knowledge  in  every  department  of 
study  is  acquired  by  regular  progression,  and  that  every  science  naturally 
unfolds  itself  in  conformity  to  fixed  and  invariable  laws.  The  proper 
test,  therefore,  to  be  applied  to  a  text  book,  is  the  simple  inquiry  whether 
it  is  accurate  in  its  definitions  of  principles,  and  conformed  in  its  arrange- 
ment to  this  established  order.  The  test  is  simple,  and  its  application  is 
less  difficult  than  many  suppose. 

I  do  not  profess  to  have  applied  this  test,  patiently  and  accurately,  to 
all  the  works  I  am  about  to  recommend,  so  that  I  can  pronounce  with 
certainty  respecting  them.  I  am  guided  in  reference  to  many  of  them  by 
public  opinion. 

To  indicate  the  order  in  which  text  books  are  to  be  used,  I  cite  the 
following  extract  from  the  published  instructions  of  the  State  Superinten- 
dent : — "  The  usual  order  has  been  found  by  long  experience  to  be  best, 
namely,  the  alphabet,  spelling,  reading  with  definitions,  arithmetic,  geogra- 
phy, history,  and  grammar." 


52 

In  conformity  to  this  order,  a  spelling  book  is  the  first  one  to  be  used 
in  our  schools.  Numerous  works  of  this  kind  are  before  the  public,  and 
each  is  recommended  by  some  individual  excellence  ;  but  I  regard  Cobb's 
New  Spelling  Book  as  decidedly  the  best  work  of  its  kind  for  learning  the 
orthography  of  our  language.  It  is  far  more  extensive  in  its  tables,  and 
more  accurate  in  its  classification  ;  while  the  numerous  anomalies  with 
which  our  spelling  abounds,  are  so  clearly  pointed  out  as  greatly  to  assist 
the  pupils  in  mastering  them.  It  is  fast  gaining  in  popularity,  and  wher- 
ever it  has  been  duly  examined  and  compared  with  other  works,  so  far  as 
I  am  informed,  a  general  preference  has  been  expressed  for  it. 

Of  the  importance  of  spelling,  the  State  Superintendent  has  expressed 
the  following  opinions.  In  his  published  instructions  to  County  Super- 
intendents he  says :  "  They  should  urge  the  absolute  necessity  of  chil- 
dren being  thoroughly  and  frequently  exercised  in  spelling,  so  that  they 
may  make  no  mistakes  in  any  words  in  common  use.  Without  this  it  is 
impossible  for  them  to  become  good  readers."  These  views  are  evident- 
ly the  result  of  accurate  observation  and  long  experience,  and  cannot  be 
too  often  repeated. 

The  prominent  defects  in  our  reading  exercises  in  the  common  schools 
are,  a  bad  articulation,  and  almost  universal  neglect  of  definitions.  As  a 
corrective  for  the  former  of  these  errors,  I  would  recommend  the  intro- 
duction and  use  of  Comstocks  Works  ;  and  to  correct  the  latter,  I  recom- 
mend the  use  of  Cobb's  New  Series  of  Readers. 

The  Phonetic  Reader,  Elocution,  and  Charts  of  Elementary  Sounds, 
by  Andrew  Comstock,  M.  D. — The  author  of  these  works  has  spent 
twenty  years  in  the  study  of  the  subjects  of  which  they  treat,  and  is 
probably  the  best  known  and  the  most  successful  practical  elocutionist 
in  the  country.  He  was  the  first  to  arrange  in  tabular  and  systematic 
forms,  the  elements  of  our  language  ;  and  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  numer- 
ous phonological  charts  which  have  appeared,  are  essentially  transcripts 
from,  though  not  improvements  of  this  author's  works.  In  their  latest 
editions,  Comstock's  books  and  charts  are,  beyond  question,  unsurpassed 
by  any  thing  of  their  kind  which  has  yet  been  ofliered  the  public.  Be- 
sides the  great  facilities  which  they  afford  for  habits  of  correct,  elegant, 
and  effective  reading  and  speaking,  they  present  also,  in  graceful  and 
attractive  forms,  many  of  those  fundamental  moral  and  political  truths, 
on  the  right  apprehension  and  practical  application  of  which,  by  the 
mass  of  our  people,  depend  the  support  and  perpetuity  of  our  free  insti- 
tutions. They  also  contemplate  a  thorough  reformation  in  our  anomalous 
and  barbarous  orthography. 

The  leading  characteristics  of  Cobb's  Series  of  Readers  are  thus  briefly 
stated  in  a  report  of  the  Association  of  Teachers  of  the  Public  Schools 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  dated  February  17,  1844  :  "  Every  word  used 
is  accented,  pronounced,  and  defined  once  in  the  course  of  the  Series. 
The  lessons  and  books  are  also  graduated  from  easy  to  more  difficult,  and 
every  new  word  is  defined  in  the  spelling  lesson  immediately  preceding 
the  reading  lesson  in  which  it  occurs.  The  particular  definition  applica 
ble  in  the  lesson  is  printed  in  italics,  that  the  learner  may  thus  ascertain 


•s 

the  exact  meaning  of  every  word  he  reads.  The  selections  are  from 
various  authors,  chiefly  American,  carefully  avoiding  all  frightful  and  im- 
possible stories,  and  colloquies  of  inferior  animals,  such  as  nourish  an  ap- 
petite for  fiction  and  romance.  Such  are  the  leading  characteristics  of 
Mr.  Cobb's  books,  which  the  Association  warmly  recommend  to  their 
brother  teachers." 

Throughout  Cobb's  whole  Series  of  New  Readers,  teachers  and  pupils 
are  constantly  reminded  of  the  capital  error  in  reading  exercises,  neglect 
of  dcfinitmis,  and  are,  at  the  same  time,  aflforded  great  facilities  for  its 
correction.  Were  this  Series  in  all  other  respects  only  equal  with  others, 
this  single  excellence,  in  my  judgment,  is  so  great  and  commanding  that 
it  should  determine  the  public  in  favor  of  their  general  use  in  the  schools 
of  the  country. 

The  Bible  Reader,  by  Wm.  B.  Fowle,  of  Boston,  is  a  choice  selection 
of  admirable  reading  lessons  from  the  Holy  Scriptures.  This  book  was 
compiled  with  special  reference  to  the  wants  of  the  schools,  and  it  is  so 
perfectly  adapted  to  fill  the  place  its  author  designed  it  to  occupy,  that  to 
be  universally  approved  it  needs  only  to  be  universally  known.  For  a 
reading  book  it  is,  in  my  opinion,  far  better  than  the  entire  Scriptures  of 
either  the  Old  or  New  Testament ;  and  I  cordially  recommend  its  imme- 
diate adoption  and  use  in  all  the  Common  Schools  of  this  county. 

History,  particularly  that  of  our  own  country,  may  be  m.xde  a  most  in- 
teresting and  profitable  portion  of  Common  School  exercises.  Geogra- 
phy and  Chronology  are  indispensable  in  the  acquisition  of  historical 
knowledge,  and  should  always  be  taught  in  connection  with  it.  No  ade- 
quate conception  of  any  action  can  be  formed  in  the  mind  of  a  child  with- 
out connecting  with  it  the  place  where,  and  the  time  when,  it  occurred; 
Geography  and  Chronology  have  long  since  been  properly  denominated 
the  two  eyes  of  history.  Memory  will  be  taxed  in  vain  to  recall  impres- 
sions made  by  historical  narration,  unless  the  ideas  of  time  and  place  are 
associated  with  those  impressions.  History  may  also,  and  should  be,  a 
medium  for  awakening  a  love  of  country,  and  inspiring  the  young  with 
virtuous  and  heroic  sentiments.  Mrs.  Willard's  Abridgment  of  her  His- 
tory of  the  United  States  is  better  adapted  to  answer  all  these  desirable 
ends  than  any  other  small  manual  with  which  I  am  acquainted ;  while  as 
a  book  for  reading  purposes  it  is  unsurpassed  by  any  that  can  be  produced 
in  the  form  of  historical  narration.  I  hope  soon  to  see  this  little  manual 
in  general  use  in  our  schools. 

Porter's  Rhetorical  Reader  and  VandenhofTs  Plain  System  of  Elocution 
give  the  best  explanation  and  illustration  of  the  principles  of  good  reading 
of  any  books  within  my  knowledge.  They  are  standard  works  of  their 
kind,  and  ought  to  be  read  and  studied  by  all  teachers  and  the  advanced 
classes  in  the  schools. 

Wickhara's  Educational  Incentives  may  be  made  very  useful  instru- 
mentalities in  primary  and  common  Schools ;  and  1  cheerfully  commend 
them  to  the  favorable  regard  of  the  friends  of  Education. 

Sweet's  Elocution  is  a  judicious  selection  of  exercises  in  reading  and 
speaking,  and  well  adapted  for  occasional  use  in  reading  and  declamation. 


by  the  higher  classes.  The  author's  numerous  notes,  explanatory  and 
historical,  will  be  found  entertaining  and  instructive. 

Hart's  Class  Books  of  Poetry  and  Prose  are  intended  to  show  the 
progress  of  the  English  Language  from  its  rude  condition,  several  cen- 
turies ago,  to  its  present  cultivated  and  polished  state.  The  conception 
is  an  admirable  one,  and  the  work  has  been  well  executed.  These 
books  will  be  found  both  entertaining  and  instructive. 

Worcester's  Comprehensive  Dictionary  is  believed  to  be  the  best  adapted 
of  any  work  of  its  kind  for  the  use  of  the  Common  Schools.  This  Dictionary 
is  in  the  octavo  form,  and  will  therefore  be  found  more  convenient  for  use  and 
more  durable  than  the  ordinary  small  dictionaries.  It  contains  a  greater 
number  of  words,  and  more  full  and  accurate  definitions ;  it  gives  the  authori- 
ties on  each  side,  wherever  a  word  of  disputed  pronunciation  occurs ;  it 
explains  many  of  those  Latin,  French,  Italian,  and  Spanish  words  and 
phrases  so  often  used  in  newspapers,  pamphlets,  and  magazines,  and 
which  must  be  wholly  unintelligible  to  the  common  reader  without  some 
similar  help ;  it  contains  Walker's  catalogue  of  Greek  and  Latin  proper 
names,  divided,  accented,  and  pronounced ;  the  same  author's  catalogue 
of  Scripture  proper  names ;  and  lastly,  a  list  of  several  thousands  of 
geographical  proper  names,  many  of  them  the  most  difficult  to  pronounce 
of  any  words  in  the  language,  and  such  as  cannot  be  correctly  pro- 
nounced even  by  most  teachers  without  some  aid  of  this  kind.  Taken 
as  a  whole,  this  Dictionary  is  far  preferable,  for  private  families  and 
Common  Schools,  to  any  other  work  with  which  I  am  acquainted  ;  and 
I  have  long  urged  its  adoption  in  all  the  schools  under  my  supervision. 
I  hope,  also,  that  it  will  be  adopted  throughout  the  State. 

Oswald's  Etymological  Dictionary  I  think  would  be  found  a  useful 
book  in  a  teacher's  library,  and  I  would  respectfully  recommend  it  to  the 
favorable  notice  of  all  persons  who  wish  to  become  acquainted  with  the 
origin  of  great  numbers  of  words  now  in  common  use. 

For  extensive  and  accurate  definitions,  Doct.  Webster's  American 
Dictionary  of  the  English  language  is  by  common  consent  allowed  to  be 
the  best  work  that  has  yet  been  written.  Every  teacher  should  regard 
his  private  library  as  capitally  defective  until  it  contains  this  work.  The 
octavo  edition  in  two  volumes  contains  the  Doctor's  latest  versions  and 
amendments. 

McElligott's  Manual  Analytical  and  Synthetical  of  Orthography  and  Definition 
appears  to  me  as  a  most  comprehensive  and  valuable  work.  It  is  designed  to 
follow  the  Spelling-book,  and  the  following  is  a  brief  outline  of  its  plan.  It  re- 
quires each  exercise  to  be  written  ;  it  renders  necessary  a  due  application  of  the 
Rules  of  Spelling  ;  it  obliges  the  student  to  compare  words  variously  related  one 
with  another  ;  it  resolves  derivatives,  as  also  their  compounds,  into  their  ele- 
ments ;  explains  the  parts  both  separately  and  in  combination,  and  thus  evolves 
their  literal  or  primary  meanings, — going  beyond  this  especially  in  relation  to 
those  derivatives  that  admit  a  number  of  prefixes  ;  it  points  out  the  connection 
between  the  primary  and  the  other  significations,  and  so  trains  the  mind  to  habits 
of  accuracy  and  logical  deduction,  and  offers,  as  might  thence  be  inferred,  the 
best  possible  substitute  for  the  formal  and  regular  study  of  the  Classics. 

Brown's  and  Bullion's  Grammars  of  our  language,  are  the  most  popular 
works  of  their  kind  in  use  in  the  schools  of  this   State.     Both   are  recom- 


119 

mended  by  high  testimonials.  I  have  not  made  that  general  comparison 
and  thorough  examination  that  would  be  necessary  to  warrant  me  in  ex- 
pressing a  preference  for  either.  I  therefore  call  the  attention  of  teach- 
ers and  trustees  to  both,  and  leave  to  them  to  decide  which  is  preferable 
for  the  use  of  schools. 

Webster's  Philosophical  Grammar,  Pierce's  Grammar,  Hazen's  Gram- 
mar, and  many  others,  may  be  read  with  interest  and  profit  by  teachers  ; 
each  will  furnish  some  useful  hints  to  the  inquirer,  and,  to  some  extent, 
aid  in  b/mging  to  order  that  grammatical  chaos  which  has  been  so  long  a 
source  of  perplexity  to  teachers,  and  of  discouragement  to  learners.  A 
thorough  practical  acquaintance  with  the  language  of  one's  country  and 
race  is  of  all  departments  of  knowledge  the  most  useful ;  and  whoever 
contributes  even  but  a  mite  to  render  the  acquisition  of  such  knowledge 
more  easy,  has  some  just  claim  to  be  regarded  as  a  public  benefactor. 

Mitchel's  Geographical  Series  is,  as  a  whole,  believed  to  be  the  most 
complete  and  valuable  of  any  thing  of  its  kind.  Its  circulation,  already 
great,  is  constantly  and  rapidly  increasing.  Take  this  series,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  outline  maps  designed  to  accompany  it,  and  they  afford  the 
learner  the  greatest  facilities  for  becoming  thoroughly  and  practically  ac- 
quainted with  this  most  interesting  department  of  study.  The  Outline 
Maps,  though  the  first  things  of  their  kind  offered  to  the  public,  are,  by 
far  the  greater  number  of  persons,  still  regarded  as  the  best.  They  ought 
to  be  placed  in  every  school-house  in  the  Union. 

The  subject  of  Natural  Philosophy,  so  intimately  connected  with  Ag- 
riculture, Mechanics,  Manufactures,  and  the  Arts,  possessing  in  its  ele- 
ments a  charm  which  never  fails  to  attract  and  fix  the  attention  of  children, 
— in  its  higher  departments,  an  interest  so  great  and  absorbing  as  to  hold  in 
willing  and  delightful  captivity  the  most  mature  powers  of  thought,  and, 
in  its  whole  influence  upon  the  intellect  and  heart,  so  eminently  conserva- 
tive to  the  formation  of  a  pure  and  elevated  moral  character,  ought  ever 
to  occupy  a  prominent  place  in  every  institution  for  popular  education. 
In  this  interesting  and  healthful  department  of  science,  it  is  confidently 
believed  that  the  series  of  text  books  which  have  been,  with  great  labor 
and  care,  prepared  by  Professor  Olmsted,  of  Yale  College,  is  better 
adapted  to  direct  and  aid  the  studies  both  of  the  beginner  ai»d  of  the  ad- 
vanced student,  than  any  other  which  has  yet  been  offered  to  the  public. 
The  series  consists  of  the  Rudiments,  School  Philosophy,  and  School 
Astronomy,  in  one  small  volume  each,  and  the  College  Philosophy  and 
College  Astronomy,  in  one  large  octavo  each.  The  same  author's  Letters 
on  Astronomy  constitute  a  volume  of  most  delightful  reading,  which  ought 
to  find  a  place  in  every  private,  social,  and  school  library  in  the  country. 

The  First  Lessons  and  Common  School  Arithmetic  of  Prof.  Davies, 
together  with  the  University  Arithmetic,  form  a  common-school  series 
of  unrivalled  excellence.  They  are  too  well  known,  and  too  highly 
appreciated,  to  render  any  commendation  necessary.  The  whole  system 
of  Davies'  Mathematics,  including  his  elementary  and  higher  works,  are 
extensively  used  throughout  the  Union,  and  their  circulation  is  constantly 
increasing.  • 


Preston's  Book-keeping.  For  beginners,  the  Primary-*-cIasses  more 
advanced,  the  larger  work. 

The  Rudiments  of  Political  Science  are  now  very  properly  and  gen- 
erally becoming  a  department  of  study  in  the  common  schools,  and  vari- 
ous text  books,  prepared  by  different  authors,  are  now  before  the  public. 
The  book  which  has  been  most  extensively  introduced  into  the  different 
counties  of  this  state,  is  Young's  First  Lessons  in  Government.  Hurl- 
burt's  Civil  Office,  Shu rtleff's Governmental  Instructor,  Hart's  Class  Book 
of  the  Constitution,  Wilson's  Civil  Polity,  and  Wedgewood's  Revised 
Statutes,  may  all  be  read  and  studied  with  advantage  by  most  teachers 
and  pupils. 

The  Child's  First  Book  of  Reading  and  Drawing,  by  Jerome  B. 
Howard,  Teacher  of  Drawing  in  the  New  York  State  Normal  School, 
is  a  little  volume  just  published  by  Gates  &  Steadman,  136  Nassau  st., 
N.  Y.  It  gives  fair  promise  of  being  a  meritorious  and  useful  work,  and 
it  is  hereby  respectfully  commended  to  the  favorable  notice  of  Teachers. 


COMMON  SCHOOL  APPARATUS. 

By  the  16th  section  of  the  act  of  1843,  it  is  provided  that  "  whenever 
the  number  of  volumes  in  the  district  library  of  any  district  numbering 
over  fifty  children  between  the  ages  of  five  and  sixteen  years,  shall  ex- 
ceed one  hundred  and  twenty-five  ;  or  of  any  district  numbering  fifty 
children  or  less,  between  the  ages  of  five  and  sixteen  years,  shall  exceed 
one  hundred  volumes,  the  inhabitants  of  the  district  qualified  to  vote 
therein,  may,  at  a  special  meeting,  duly  notified  for  that  purpose,  by  a  ma- 
jority of  votes,  appropriate  the  whole  or  any  part  of  library  money  be- 
longing to  the  district,  for  the  current  year,  to  the  purchase  of  maps, 
globes,  black-boards,  or  other  scientific  apparatus,  for  the  use  of  the  school. 

J]3^  "  The  Library  money  of  every  district  must  be  expended  for  Books  or 
Apparatus  on  or  before  the  first  day  of  October  in  each  year.'''' — Common 
School  System  ;  by  S.  S.  Randall,  page  140. 

The  increased  employment  of  the  eye  in  the  business  of  instruction,  is 
one  of  the  greatest  improvements  of  our  times.  The  eye  seems  to  have 
been  designed  by  the  Creator  as  the  great  medium  for  the  reception  of 
knowledge  in  the  earlier  stages  of  life.  How  pleasantly,  distinctly,  and 
durably,  may  many  of  the  most  important  principles  of  science  be  im- 
pressed upon  the  mind  by  a  picture,  a  diagram,  or  a  piece  of  mechanism, 
which,  by  mere  oral  instruction,  the  teacher  would  labor  in  vain  to  pro- 
duce !  Wisely  therefore  has  the  Legislature  made  provision  for  intro- 
ducing apparatus  into  all  the  common  schools. 

The  following  specimens  of  apparatus  are  believed  to  be  the  best  in 
their  respective  departments,  and  are  therefore  cordially  recommended  as 
worthy  of  being  placed  in  all  the  common  schools  of  the  state  and 
country : 


In  the  Elementary  Sounds  of  the  English  Language,  &c. 

Comstock's  Phonological  Charts,  viz.  : — A  Chart  comprising — -Jirst, 
the  Elementary  Sounds  of  the  English  language,  philosophically  ar- 
ranged— second,  numerous  cuts  showing  the  best  posture  of  the  mouth 
in  the  energetic  utterance  of  the  Elements — third,  exercises  in  Articu- 
lation and  Gesture— /o«rM,  a  Phonetic  Alphabet  of  the  English  Lan- 
guage, in  which  there  is  a  letter  (typic  and  graphic)  appropriated  to 
every  elementary  sound. 

A  Chart  comprising  exercises  in  Force  and  Pitch,  embracing 
Melody  and  Modulation. 

In  Geography  and  Astronomy. 

MitcheTs  Outline  Maps  and  Key,  $15,00.  Too  well  known  to  need 
any  description. 

Mitchd's  Map  of  New  York,  $2,50. 

VaWs  Globe  and  Transparent  Sphere.  Prices  of  the  above  instrument 
from  $12  to  $150.  Size  adapted  to  private  families  and  common  schools 
from  $24  to  $30 — case  and  packing  extra. 

The  above js  a  new  and  most  surprising  piece  of  Mechanism,  by  which 
visible  illustrations  of  all  the  prominent  and  most  important  principles, 
both  of  Geography  and  Astronomy,  are  so  clearly  and  distinctly  given, 
that  the  ordinary  mind  readily  understands  them.  The  book  accompa- 
nying contains  ample  instructions,  with  all  the  problems  in  Keith  worked 
out  on  this  instrument,  exclusive  of  its  peculiar  uses.  Used  in  the  United 
States  Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  and  by  the  State  Normal  School 
at  Albany,  and  well  deserving  of  a  place  in  every  common  school,  and  in 
every  scientific  institution  throughout  the  Union.   . 

Apply  to  the  Inventor  and  Proprietor,  No.  3  Franklin  Square,  New 
York.  , 

Fisher^s  Dial  of  the  Seasons.  A  chart  illustrating  the  sun's  declination 
at  all  seasons  ;  with  the  coincident  effects  of  light  and  heat  on  vegetable 
and  animal  life  in  all  climates. 

Published  at  Philadelphia  ]  price  probably  $1,50  to  $2,00. 

In  History. 

Willard's  [Mrs.  Emma)  American  Chronographer.  An  historical  chart, 
presenting,  in  a  very  clear  and  vivid  point  of  view,  the  important  events,  to- 
gether with  the  time  of  their  occurrence,  in  the  history  of  the  United  States. 
Designed  for  Pointer-teaching  ;  price  probably  $1,50  to  $2,00. 

Willard's  Temple  of  Time,  by  which  is  presented,  in  a  striking  man- 
ner, most  of  the  leading  data  of  universal  history,  is  an  admirable  chart 
for  the  school  room,  library,  and  office.     Price  $1,00  to  $1,50. 

Bloss's  (Miss)  Chronological  Chart,  to  accompany  her  Ancient  History, 
on  which  the  world's  history  is  divided  into  six  millenniums,  or  periods  of 
one  thousand  years  each,  and  these  again  subdivided  into  centuries  ;  pre- 
senting at  one  view  and  in  regular  succession,  the  most  important  facts  in 
universal  history,  from  the  creation  to  the  present  time.  Price  of  the 
book  and  chart,  probably  from  $3  to  $5,00. 


In  Geometry,  Trigonometry,  and  Geology. 

HolbrooWs  Apparatus.  Price  probably  from  $10  to  $12.  This  appa- 
ratus was  recommended  to  all  the  schools  throughout  the  State,  by  a 
meeting  of  the  friends  of  education,  convened  at  the  capitol  during  the 
late  session  of  the  legislature. 

In  Chemistry. 

Hadley^s  Table  and  Models.  Very  valuable  works,  and  eminently 
worthy  of  a  place  in  every  common  school  in  the  country.  Price  prob- 
ably from  $2  to  $3,00. 

In  Drawing. 

Davies'  Elements  of  Drawing  and  Mensuration,  with  their  applications  to 
the  mechanic  arts. 

Abbott's  Cards.  Saxon  &  Miles,  New  York.  Price  probably  from 
$0,75  to  $1,00 

Holbrookes  Cards.     J.  Holbrook,  New  York. 

PeaWs  Graphics.     Philadelphia. 

Music. 
Lindsley^s  Chart  and  Manual.     Price  $3,00. 


The  Pupifs  Code  of  School  Regulations 

EXCELSIOR. 

RULES  FOR  THIS  SCHOOL. 


I.  I  MUST  BE  REGULAR  IN  MY  ATTENDANCE. 

This  rule  requires  me  to  attend  the  School  every  day  it  is  kept,  and  in 
good  season  in  the  morning  and  in  the  afternoon. 

II.  I  MUST  PRACTISE  CLEANLINESS. 

This  rule  requires  me  to  be  neat  in  person.  My  face  and  hands,  my 
clothes,  books,  and  papers,  must  always  be  clean.  I  must  not  mark  with 
chalk  or  charcoal  upon  the  walls,  either  within  or  without  the  school 
house.  I  must  not  scribble  upon  my  writing  books,  reading  books,  nor 
upon  the  desk  or  table.  I  must  keep  my  writing  books  free  from  blots. 
I  must  clean  my  shoes  or  boots  before  entering  the  school  house.  I  must 
not  spit  upon  the  floor.  I  must  keep  the  school  house  yard  and  out- 
'■xi..    .wr. 


59 

buildings  clean.     I  must  not  cut  the  desks,  seats,  or  any  part  of  the 
school  house  or  out-buildings,  with  a  knife. 

III.  I  MUST  SUPPORT  GOOD  ORDER. 

This  rule  requires  that  I  shall  make  no  unnecessary  noise  with  my 
feet,  with  the  door,  or  in  any  other  way,  on  going  in  or  on  coming  out  of 
the  school  house — on  getting  my  place  in  the  class,  or  my  seat  from  the 
class.  I  must  make  no  noise  with  my  lips  while  reading  to  myself.  I 
must  not  whisper  to  others  in  study  hours. 

IV.  I  MUST  BE  INDUSTRIOUS 

This  rule  requires  me  to  fix  my  thoughts  upon  my  lesson,  and  to  keep 
them  steadily  upon  it,  until  I  have  learned  it  well.  It  forbids  me  to  sit 
looking  carelessly  about  the  school  room,  neglecting  my  lesson,  and  setting 
a  bad  example  for  others. 

V.  I  MUST  UNDERSTAND  MY  LESSONS  THOROUGHLY 

This  rule  forbids  me  to  use  any  word  in  conversation  without  knowing 
distinctly  what  particular  thing  I  intend  to  represent  by  it.  It  forbids 
me  to  read  any  word  in  a  book  without  knowing  clearly  and  distinctly 
what  the  author  meant  to  represent  by  it.  In  grammar,  in  arithmetic,  in 
geography,  and  in  every  other  study,  it  forbids  me  to  assert  any  thing 
before  I  can  give  the  right  reason  for  making  the  assertion.  This  is  the 
most  important  rule  for  acquiring  knowledge,  and  it  is  the  rule  which  has 
been  the  most  neglected.     I  must  not  be  guilty  of  such  neglect. 

VI.  I  MUST  BE  OBEDIENT. 

This  rule  requires  me  to  believe  that  my  parents  and  teachers  know 
the  things  that  I  ought  to  do,  and  the  way  in  which  they  ought  to  be 
done,  better  than  I  do.  I  cannot,  therefore,  be  a  good  child  or  a  good 
scholar  unless  my  obedience  to  my  parents  and  teachers  is  prompt  and 
cheerful. 

VII.  I  MUST  DO  TO  OTHERS  AS  I  WOULD  HAVE  OTHERS 

DO  TO  ME. 

This  rule  requires  me  to  be  just,  true,  and  kind.  I  must  never  do  any 
act  to  another  that  under  the  same  circumstances  I  would  not  willingly 
have  done  to  me.  This  is  the  most  perfect  rule  for  regulating  our  actions 
towards  each  other,  and  no  person  can  be  either  good  or  honorable  who 
does  not  strive  to  observe  this  rule. 

VIII.  I  MUST  ALWAYS  SPEAK  THE  TRUTH. 

This  rule  forbids  me  ever  to  misrepresent  or  conceal  any  thing  which 
others  have  a  right  to  know.     It  requires  me,  on  all  occasions,  to  speak 

■  „.i  .acU  * 


according  to  fact,  or  not  speak  at  all.  It  is  base,  cowardly,  and  wicked 
to  lie,  and  every  child  who  desires  to  be  either  honored  or  happy  must 
love  and  speak  the  truth. 

IX.  I  MUST  NEVER  PUT  OFF  TILL  TO-MORROW  WHAT 
CAN  BE  DONE  TO-DAY. 

X.  I  MUST  READ  THESE  RULES  EVERY  DAY,  AND  TRY 
TO  KEEP  THEM  ALL. 

Works  containing  accurate  and  reliable  statistical  information  in  the 
great  Departments  of  Agriculture,  Commerce,  Manufactures,  and  the 
Mechanic  Arts,  are  pre-eminently  worthy  of  a  place  in  the  District 
Libraries.  The  endless  controversies  in  which,  for  more  than  half  a 
century  past,  our  country  has  been  engaged,  upon  the  vexed  questions 
of  Finance,  Protection  and  Free  Trade,  can  be  permanently  settled  only 
by  the  simple,  rational  process  of  observing  phenomena  ;  collecting  and 
preserving  data ;  examining,  comparing,  and  arranging  facts  in  proper 
tables,  whence  controlling  principles  may  at  all  times  be  developed. 

The  establishment  of  a  Bureau  of  Statistics  by  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment, at  Washington,  will  designate  an  Epoch  in  the  future  history  of 
the  country,  and  it  must  be  a  source  of  just  pride  to  every  citizen  of  New 
York  to  remember  that  this  great  measure  was  originally  suggested  and 
carried  into  execution  by  the  foresight  and  perseverance'  of  one  of  the 
Representatives  in  Congress  from  this  State.* 

Hunt's  Merchant's  Magazine  is  one  of  our  most  valuable  Periodicals 
for  business  men,  and  no  work  would  be  more  permanently  and  exten- 
sively useful.  The  work,  up  to  the  completion  of  the  14th  volume,  is 
substantially  and  neatly  bound,  and  sold  at  retail  at  $2.50  per  volume. 
The  Library  of  Commerce,  by  the  same  author,  is  also  a  very  valuable 
work,  abounding  in  information  of  deep  interest  to  all  classes. 

The  Farmer's  Library,  edited  by  John  S.  Skinner,  and  published  by 
Greeley  &  McElrath,  $5.00  per  annum  ;  Lardner's  Lectures,  by  the 
same  publishers  ;  and  the  American  semi-quarterly  Journal  of  Agricul- 
ture and  Science,  comprising  about  900  pages  per  annum,  at  $2.00  per 
year, — edited  by  Dr.  E.  Emmons,  A.  Osborne,  and  O.  C.  Gardner, 
New  York.  These  works,  and  the  volumes  of  the  Cultivator,  are  each 
and  all  well  deserving  of  a  place  in^very  District  Library,  and  they  are 
especially  commended  to  the  favorable  notice  of  Trustees. 

The  admirable  series  of  books  by  Miss  Eliza  Robbins — comprising 

1.  Primary  Lessons.  4.   School  Friend. 

2.  Introduction  to  Popular  Lessons.     5.  Primary  Dictionary. 

3.  American  Popular  Lessons. 

I  PROGRESSIVE. 

6.  Sequel  to  Popular  Lessons.  10.  English  History. 

7.  Tales  from  American  History.      11.  Biography  for  Schools 

8.  Poetry  for  Schools.  12.  Elements  of  Mythology. 

9.  Grecian  History.  13.   YoutKs  Plutarch — 

•  Hon.  Zadock  Pratt 


are  equally  adapted  for  use  in  the  Libraries  and  for  class-reading  in  the 
Schools,  and  they  are  cordially  recommended  for  both  purposes. 

"  Tliese  books  are  intended  not  merely  to  teach  reading  for  reading's  sake,  but  to 
suggest  an  intelligent  method  of  instruction,  in  preference  to  one  merely  mechanical. 
They  attempt  to  communicate  something  of  the  knowledge  of  nature,  to  instil  the  prin- 
ciples of  a  right  conduct  from  the  earliest  age,  to  furnish  elements  of  true  history,  and 
to  form  a  just  literary  taste." 

Published  by  Roe  Lockwood  &  Son,  411  Broadway,  New  York. 
Also,  by  the  same  publishers,  the  First  Lessons  in  Human  Physiology, 
to  which  are  added  Brief  Rules  of  Health.  For  the  use  of  Schools. 
By  John  H.  Griscom,  M.  D.  The  author's  name  is  sufficient  guaran- 
tee that  this  little  work  is  well  adapted  to  the  purposes  for  which  it  was 
designed. 

Napoleon  and  his  Marshals,  by  J.  T.  Headley,  is  the  title  of  a  deeply 
interesting  work  in  two  volumes  octavo,  which  ought  to  be  placed  in 
every  District  Library  throughout  the  State  and  Union.  The  following 
just  sentences,  from  the  author's  preface,  contain  both  the  key  and  moral 
of  the  work  :  "  We  need  not  fear  the  effect  of  stimulating  too  much  the 
love  of  glory  in  this  age  of  dollars  and  cents.  Cupidity,  not  love  of 
glory  or  personal  ambition,  is  to  be  the  source  of  future  collisions.  The 
grasping  spirit  is  to  be  dreaded  most,  and  for  one  I  should  prefer  much, 
a  little  more  of  the  chivalric  sentiment  blended  in  with  our  thirst  for 
gold." 

Published  by  Baker  &  Scribner,  36  Park  Row  and  145  Nassau-st., 
New  York. 

The  Education  of  Mothers,  or  the  Civilization  of  Mankind  by  Wo- 
men. By  L.  Aime-Martin.  Being  the  work  to  which  the  prize  of  the 
French  Academy  was  awarded.  Translated  from  the  French  by  Edwin 
Lee,  Esq.,  author  of  "  The  Baths  of  Germany,"  etc. 

Published  by  Lea  &  Blanchard,  Philadelphia. 

The  above  work  is  worthy  of  being  printed  in  letters  of  gold.  It 
deserves  to  be  read,  studied,  and  constantly  meditated  upon,  by  every 
Mother  and  Daughter  in  the  Union  and  in  the  world. 

It  is  earnestly  hoped,  that  the  publishers  will  cause  the  maxims  in 
French,  at  the  heads  of  the  chapters,  to  be  faithfully  translated  into 
English,  and  also  have  the  work  neatly  bound  in  a  manner  suitable  for 
Family  and  School  District  Libraries. 


DISTRICT  LIBRARIES. 

The  object  of  the  law  for  procurinjt  district  libraries  is,  to  diffuse  infiirmation.  not  only,  or  even 
chiefly,  amonp  children  or  minors,  hut  among  adults  and  thfise  who  h;ive  finished  their  conmion 
Bchool  education.  The  books,  therefore,  should  lie  such  as  will  lie  useful  for  circulMtion  Humnt  the 
inhabitants  genenilly.  They  should  not  be  children's  hooks,  or  of  a  juvenile  characler,  or  licht  and 
frivolous  tales  and  romances;  but  works  conveying  solid  information  which  will  excite  a  thirst  for 
knowledge,  and  also  gratify  it,  as  fkr  as  such  a  library  can. 

JOHN  C.  SPENCER,  Sup.  Cam.  Schools. 

"  District  Libraries  are  designed  to  carry  onward  and  complete  the  process  wliich  is  but  commenced 
in  the  schools.  The  schools  are  Intended  to  teach  children  and  youth  the  art  of  acquiring  useful 
knowledge ;  the  Libraries  are  designed  to  afford  them  the  means  of  reducing  that  art  to  practice. 
None  but  standard  works  in  the  different  deimrtments  of  knowledge  ought  ever  to  be  admitted  into 
the  District  Libraries.  It  is  not  from  the  great  number,  hut  from  the  high  quality  of  the  volumes, 
diat  the  vast  benefits  expected  from  these  institutions  are  to  flow." 

Approved  by  SAMUEL  YOUNG,  Sup.  Com.  Schools. 


6* 


Catalogue  of  Books  recommended  for  small  School  Districts. 


Abbott's  Teacher. 

Austin's  Voice  to  Youth — to  the  Married. 

Addison's  Works. 

Adams'  (John)  Letters  to  his  Wife,  2  vols. 

Annals  of  Tryon  County,  W.  W.  Camp- 
bell, 1  vol.  8vo. 

Adams'  (Hannah)  View  of  all  Religions. 

Adams'  (Mrs.  John)  Letters,  edited  by  her 
grandson,  2  vols. 

Adams'  (John  Q.)    Letters  on  Silesia,  1 
vol. 

Alison's  History  of  Europe,  Abridgment, 
1  vol. 

Arnold's  Lectures  on  History. 

Botta's  Italy  under  Napoleon. 

Bacon's  Essays. 

Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress. 

Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States ; 
abridgment. 

Butler's  Reminiscences. 

Borrow's  Bible  in  Spain. 

Bennett's  Letters  to  a  Young  Lady 

Beauties  of  the  Bible  ;  Sampson's. 

Beauties  of  Shakspeare. 

Beauties  of  Blair. 

Blair's  Rhetoric ;  abridgment.     Newman's 
do. 

Burke  on  the  Sublime  and  Beautiful. 

Beauties  of  Burke. 

Botta's    American  Revolution,  Riinney's 
edition,  bound  in  leather,  2  vols. 

Buel's  Farmer's  Instructor,  2  vols. 

Butler's  Analogy,  1  vol. 

Burton's  Anatomy  of  Melancholy. 

Cicero's  Offices  ;  Harper's  edition. 

Court  and  Camp  of  Napoleon. 

Combe's  Constitution  of  Man. 

"         Lectures  on  Female  Education. 

"         Physiology. 

"         Moral  Philosophy. 

«         Tour  in  the  United  States. 

Carlyle's  Heroes  in  History. 

Cobbett's  Advice  to  Young  Men. 
"         Cottage  Economy. 
"         Rural  Rides. 

Croly's  British  Poets. 

Cheever's  Common  Place  Book  of  Ameri- 
can Poetry. 

Cooper's  Naval  History ;  abridgment 

Cowper's  Poems  ;  cabinet  edition. 
"  Life,  by  Taylor. 

"  Letters. 

Cicero  on  Old  Age,  (translated.) 
"       on  Friendship,  (translated.) 

Coleridge's  Aids  to  Reflection,  1  vol. 

Calhoun's  (J.  C.)  Life  and  Speeches,  1  vol. 


Cicero,  Orations  by  Duncan. 
"        Offices,  by  Cockman. 
"        Cato    and    Lftlius,   by    Melmoth, 
(Harper's,)  3  vols. 

Condition  and  Fate  of  England,  by  C.  Ed- 
wards Lester,  (Langley,)  2  vols. 

Degerando. 

Dick's  Works ;  8  vols.  8vo. 

Dymond's  Essay ;  abridgment. 

Dana's  Two  Years  before  the  Mast,  (Har- 
per's,) 1  vol. 

Demosthenes'  Orations,  translated  by  Le- 
land,  2  vols.  18mo.,  (Harper's.) 

Duncan's  Caesar,  (translation,)  2  vols. 

Dumas'  Progress  of  Democracy,  1  voL 

Edgeworth's  Practical  Education. 

iBsop's  Fables. 

Edgeworth's  (Maria)  Tales  and  Novels,  10 
vols.,  (Harper's.) 

Fowler  on  Education  and  Self-Iroprove- 
ment,  1  vol. 

Franklin's  Life  and  Writings,  Autobiogra- 
phy. 

Florian's  William  Tell. 

Flint's  Valley  of  the  Mississippi. 

Fenelon,  Lives  of  the  Ancient  Philoso- 
phers, (Harper's.) 

Fisk's  (Wilbur)  Travels,  1  vol.  (Harper's.) 

Famham's  Travels  in  Oregon  and  West- 
ern Prairies. 

Frost's  Book  of  Examples. 
"     Illustrious  Mechanics. 
"     Book  of  the  Colonies. 

Hitchcock's  Geology. 

Humphrey's  Domestic  Education. 

Hurlbut's  Civil  Office  and  P(ditical  Ethics. 

Hedge's  Logic. 

Hogg's  Familiar  Anecdotes  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott. 

Hazen's  Technology,  2  vols.  18mo.,  (Har- 
per's.) 

Horace  and  Phaedrus,  translations,  2  volfi. 
18mo.,  (Harper's.) 

Hale's  Contemplations,  1  vol. 

Homer's  Iliad,  Pope's  translation,  1  vol., 
(Barnes  &  Co.) 

Hart's  Class  Book  of  Poetry,  1  vol. 

Hart's  Class  Book  of  Prose,  1  vol. 

Irving's  Life  of  Columbus. 

Irving's  Life  of  Goldsmith,  (Harper's,)  2 
vols.  18mo. 

Johnson  (A.  B.)  Religion  in  its  relations 
to  the  Present  Life,  1  vol.  18ma  (Har- 
per's.) 

Junius's  Letters,  (Woodfall's  edition.) 

Jefferson's  Notes  on  Virginia. 


63 


Jeffereou's  Manual. 

"        Life,  by  Rayner. 
Johnson's  Lives  of  the  British  Poets,  1  vol. 
Lacon. 

Locke's  Essays,  abridgment 
Lieber's   Essays  on   Property  and  Labor, 

with  Preliminary  Essay  by  Dr.  Potter, 

18mo. 
Means  and    Ends,   or   Self-Training ;  by 

Mrs.  Sedgwick. 
Memoir  of  Lucien  Bonaparte. 
Mason's  Self-knowledge. 
Marshall's    Life   of  Washington,    abridg- 
ment. 
Maury's  Principles  of  Eloquence,  with  an 

Introduction  by  Dr.  Potter,  (Harper's,) 

1  vol. 
Mott's,  Valentine,  Travels  in  Europe  and 

the  East,  1  vol. 
Nott's  Counsels  to  the  Young. 
Olin's  Travels  in  Egypt,  Arabia  Petrea, 

and  the  Holy  Land,  2  vols.,  (small.) 
Ossian's  Poems. 
Penn's  Life  and  Maxims. 
Potter's  Political  Economy. 
Pitt's  Letters  to  his  Nephew. 
Plutarch's  Lives. 
Priestley's  Historical  Lectures. 
Potter's  Science  and  Arts. 
Porter's  Rhetorical  Reader. 
Pinnock's  Goldsmith's  Greece. 
"  "  Rome. 

"  "  England 

(Thomas,  Cowperthwaite  &.  Co.) 
Roberts'  Life  of  Hannah  More,  (Harper's,) 

1  vol. 
Robbins'  (Eliza)  History  of  England,  1  vol. 
"         '*        History  of  Greece,  1  vol. 
Rural  Economy. 
Stable  Economy. 

Stone's  Life  of  Brant,  abridgment 
"      Life  of  Red  Jacket 
"      History  of  Wyoming. 
Spurzheim's  Elements  of  Education. 
Simpson  on  Popular  Education. 
Schoolcraft's  Travels  in  the  N.  W.  Regions 

of  the  U.  States. 
Schoolcraft's  Travels  in  the  Valley  of  the 

Mississippi. 
Seneca's  Morals. 

Sedgwick's  Public    and    Private    Econo- 
my. (?) 
Selections   from  the  writings  of  Fenelon, 

with  a  memoir  of  his  life  ;  by  a  lady. 
Story's  Constitution  of  the  U.  States. 
Sweet's  Elocution. 
Sismondi's  History  of  the  Italian  Republica, 

abridgment,  1  vol. 


Sedgwick's  (Miss)  Letters  from  Abroad,  2 

vols. 
Sedgwick's  Home. 

"  Live  and  Let  Live. 

"  Poor  Rich  Man,  and 

Rich  Poor  Man. 

"  Means  and  Ends. 

Thacher's  American  Revolution. 
Thomson's  Seasons. 
Tj'tler's  Universal  Historj',  1  vol. 
Todd's  Manual. 

Tacitus,  translated  by  A.  Murphy. 
Taylor's  (Wm.  Cooke)  Universal  History, 

1  vol.,  (Appleton.) 
Vicar  of  Wakefield. 
Vicar  of  Wakefield,  (pictorial.) 
Webster's  America. 

"         Philosophical  Grammar. 
Wayland's  Moral  Science.  ' 

"  Political  Economy. 

Watts'  Improvement  of  the  Mind. 
Wirt's  Life  of  Patrick  Henry. 
Willard's  (Mrs.  Emma)  United  States. 

"        Universal  Histor}'. 
Watts'  Logic. 

Whelpley's  Compend  of  History. 
Young  Man's  Book  of  Knowledge. 
Young's  First  Lessons  in  Government 
Zimmerman  on  Solitude. 

"  on  National  Pride. 


For  Large  Districts,  in  addition  to  the 
preceding. 

Abercrombie's  Intellectual  Philosophy. 

Adams,  John,  on  Feudal  Tenures. 

Adams'  Roman  Antiquities. 

D'Aubign^'s  History  of  the  Protestant 
Reformation. 

Alison  on  Taste. 

Bancroft's  History  of  the  U.  S.,  4  vols. 

Bentham  on  Morals  and  Legislation. 

Burgh's  Dignity  of  Human  Nature. 

Brougham's  Sketches  of  Statesmen. 

Blair's  Sermons. 

Blair's  Lectures. 

Boswell's  Life  of  Johnson  ;  Crocker's  edi- 
tion. 

Bossuet's  Universal  History,  8vo.,  old  calf, 
London. 

Brougham's  Speeches,  2  vols. 

Bacon's  Works,  3  vols.  8vo. 

Bryant's  Poems. 

Bourrienne's  Memoirs  of  Napoleon,  2  vols. 
8vo. 

Cooper's  Naval  History. 


64 


Carlyle's  French  Revolution. 

Coleridge's  Aids  to  Reflection,  1  vol. 
"  Table  Talk,  1  vol.  12mo 

"  Friend,  3  vols.  l2mo. 

Crabbe's  Synonymes,  8vo. ;  Harper's  edi- 
tion. 

Cauninfr's  Speeches. 

Clay's  Life  and  Times,  by  C,  Colton. 

Dymond's  Essay. 

De  Tocqueville's  Democracy  in  America. 

De  Israeli's  Curiosities  of  Literature. 

Downing's  Designs  for  Cottage  Residen- 
ces, 1  vol.  8vo. ;  Wiley  &  Putnam's 
edition. 

Federalist. 

Fisk's  Tour  in  Europe. 

Fenelon's  Ancient  Philosophers. 

Fox's  Speeches. 

Foster's  Essays,  Combe's  Constitution  of 
Man,  Macnish,  De  Stael  and  Mason,  1 
vol.  8vo. 

Guizot's  Flistory  of  Civilization  in  Europe. 

Griswold's  American  Poets  and  Poetry. 

Goldsmith's  Prose  Works. 

Good's  Book  of  Nature. 

Hammond's  Political  History  of  Nevp 
York,  bound  in  leather ;  Phinney's  edi- 
tion, 2  vols. 

Hallam's  History  of  the  Middle  Ages. 

Hazlit's  Eloquence  of  the  British  Senate. 

Hume's  History  of  England,  continued  by 
Smollett  and  Bissett. 

Hamilton  Papers,  1  vol. 

Hamilton's  Life,  by  his  Son,  2  vols.  Bvo. ; 
Appleton  &  Co.,  N.  Y. 

Haziit's  Essays,  by  his  Son. 

History  of  Germany,  Kohlrausch. 

Hitchcock's  Geology. 

Irving's  Life  of  Columbus,  2  vols.  Bvo. 

Jefferson's  Correspondence,  4  vols. 

.Tohn  Jay's  Life  and  Writings,  by  his  Sou. 

Kaimea'  Elements  of  Criticism,  2  vols. 

Kendall's  Life  of  Jackson,  3  vols. 

Las  Casas'  Journal,  4  vols.  8vo. 

Longfellow's  Poetical  Works. 

Liebig's  Agricultural  Chemistry. 
"       Animal  Chemistry. 

Life  of  Bishop  Heber,  2  vols.  8vo. 

Ijockhart's  Life  of  Burns. 

Lee's  Elements  of  Geology. 

Milton's  Works. 

Macaulay's  Miscellanies. 

Massachusetts  Comnfon  School  Journal. 

Mosheim's  Ecclesiastical  History,  3  vols. 
8vo. 

Michelet's  Elements  of  the  Modern  His^ 
tory  of  Europe,  1  vol.  18mo. 


Mackintosh's  History  of  England,  1  vol. 
8vo. 

Madison  Papers,  3  vols. 

Memoirs  of  Sully,  3  vole.  4to. 

McCulloch's  Universal  Gazetteer,  2  vols. ; 
Harper's. 

McKenzie's  Life  of  Paul  Jones. 

Niebuhr's  History  of  Rome. 

Ossian's  Poems. 

O'Meara's  Voice  from  St.  He4en&,  2  Toh. 

Pope's  Works,  Poetical. 

Priestley's  Lectures  on  History  and  Gen- 
eral Policy,  4to. 

Prescott's  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  3  vobi 
8vo. 

Prescott's  Conquest  of  Mexico. 

Prescott's  Miscellanies. 

Pictorial  History  of  England,  3  vob. ;  Har- 
per's. 

Pitkin's  History  of  the  United  States  from 
1763  to  1797,  2  vols.  8vo. 

Phillips'  Recollections  of  Curran,  1  vol. 

Pitt's  Speeches. 

PoUok's  Course  of  Time. 

Potter's  Science  and  Arts,  1  vol. 

Ranke's  History  of  the  Popes. 

Reynolds',  Sir  Joshua,  Discourses  on  the 
Theory  and  Practice  of  Painting. 

Say's  Political  Economy. 

Sparks'  Life  and  Writings  of  Washington, 
1  vol. 
"         Life  and  Writings  of  Franklin,  1 

vol. 
"         Life  and  Writings  of  Goveruenr 
Morris,  3  vols. 

Sismondi's  History  of   Literature  of  the 
South  of  Europe,  4  vols.  12ma 

Sedgwick's,  Theodore,  Jr.,  life  of  Wm. 
Livingston,  8vo. 

Stone's,  Wm.  L.,  Life  of  Brant,  2  vols.  8vo. 
"         Life  of  Red  Jacket,  1  vol.  8vo. 

Tucker's  Life  of  Jefferson. 

Tudor's  Life  of  James  Otis. 

Thiers'  French  Revolution,  3  vols.  Bvo. 
"      History  of  the  Consulate  and  Em- 
pire. 

Thirlwall's    History   of    Greece,    2  vo]a. 
bound  in  leather. 

Taylor's  Natural  History  of  Society,  two 
vols.  12  mo. ;  Appleton  &■  Co. 

Tanner's  Canals  and  Railroads  in  the  U. 
States. 

Taylor's  Home  Education. 

Von  Raumer's  United  States. 

Wirt's  Life  of  Patrick  Henry,  1  vol.  8vo. 

Webster's  Speeches,  2  vols. 

Wordsworth's  Poems. 


VVICKHAM'S  EDUCATIONAL  INCENTIVES, 

Series  fob  Seminaries  and  Schools. 

Published  by  This  Series  consists  of  the 

following  ill  wliich  i......  ..  ...^  -.  . —  ,    .  .^,1;  L3  believed,  will  fiud  something 

suited  to  each  of  their  several  departmeuL. 

1.  The  School  Ledger  ombracinga  Regis u.,  ,  .;.'a  Album  and  Blanks  for  a  Compend- 
ious Recoi-d  with  upwards  of  40,000  blanks  for  Attendances  &c.     Price  75  ots.   Postage.  19c. 

2.  Tho  School  Diaiy,  an  aid  to  voluntaiy  self  improvement;  per.  doz.  50ct8.    Postge,  2^0 

3.  The  School  Register  with  upwards  of  17.000  Blanks  for  Attendances,  Recitations  and 
Deportment  and  combining  many  valuable  incentives.     31  cts. 

4.  The  Teacher's  Certificates  or  Blank  Reports  for  Statistics  &c.  with  mental  and  moral 
traits  contrasted  &c.     Printed  in  colored  inks ;  per  100,  50  cU. 

5.  The  Youth's  Diploma,  a  beautiful  and  well  executed  design  6^  cts.    Ditto  colored  10  cts. 
C.  The  Penman's  Album,  a  book  of  Incentives  to  skill  in  Penmanship,  25  cts.     37^  cts  &  $1 

7.  The  Teacher's  Tokens,  to  be  given  out  for  mental  ajid  moral  attainments,  arc  also  aids 
to  self  acquaintance,  vehicles  of  instruction.  &c.  of  50  ditierent  kinds.  50  of  each  kind  in  a 
pack.     Printed  iu  colors;  pr.  pack  12^  eta. 

8.  The  School  Chart  of  Characteristics,  an  aid  to  self  and  general  improvement  and  correct 
habita.    A  moral  chart  of  principles  22  by  28  inches.     Very  neatly  executed.     18  3-4  cts. 

All  of  the  above  lire  transmissible  by  mail  except  the  7th;  these  can  be  rendered  mailable 
in  another  form:  (see  below.) 

A  Proposal  to  the  Teachers  op  the  United  States  ; — To  furnish  them  with  an 
abridgement  of  the  Educational  Incentives  iu  a  cheap  and  mailable  form,  which  will  bring 
every  Teacher  in  the  United  States  on  a  par  with  those  who  reside  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Pub- 
lishing Office,  or  in  other  words  to  tike  these  works  to  every  Teacher's  door  or  neighborhood 
however  remote  free  of  expense.  To  publish  the  same  in  parts  at  one  Domm?  ■■  ifl>  ^c-.i-h 
in  ad\'ance,  postrpaid)  under  the  general  tide  of 

THE  TEACHER'S  BOOK  OF  INSTRUMENTALITIES  AND  SCHOOL  REQUiiSITES 

Six   COPIES   FOB  S5. 

CONTENTS  OP  PART  I.    Postage  to  any  part  of  the  United  States,  12i  cts. 

1.  A  School  Register,  With  upwards  of  17,000  blanks  for  Attendances,  Recitations  and  Deport 
ment.     (Postage,  if  sent -eparatcly,  8  ccnis-) 

2.  Sixty-four  Teachers  Certificates,  or  Blank  Reports,  (Postage  on  each  sheet,  containing  h 
1 1-2  cents. 

3.  The  .American  Youth's  Diploma,  two  plain  and  one  colored.  (Postage  ou  each  sheet,  con 
'  aining  either  1  or  2  copies,  2  1-2  cents. 

4.  A  Chart  of  Geometrical  Diagrams.    (Postage,  2  1-2  centa.) 

5.  A  School  Chart  of  Characteristics.  (Postage  2  1-2  cents. — 183-4  cents  can  be  remitted  in 
a  letter  at  the  rale  of  single  postage.) 

CONTENTS  OF  PART  XL.    Postage,  not  exceeding  21  eta. 

1.  Two  hundred  and  eighty  Teachers  Tokens  ;  on  fine  card  board,  printed  in  colored  Inks,  wiih 
i'raiia  of  Character  «S(C.,  upon  the  back  of  each      (Postage  12  cents.) 

2.  Primary  Lessons  in  24  sheets,  each  16  by  10  inches;  a  new  and  valuable  compilation.  It 
id  presumed  in  neatness  of  execution  and  valuable  arrangement  it  is  unequalled  by  any  compil- 
ation extant.     (Hostage  9  ceuis.) 

3.  A  Sheet  of  Punctuation,  showing  the  uses  of  the  Pauses  in  reading  and  writing.  (Postage 
I  1-2  cents.) 

The  prices  tor  Part  II.  separately  would  bo  40  cts  75  cts.  and  6  cts.  Other  parts  in  time 
will  be  published.  Any  or  either  of  the  works  ooiiipriscd  in  the  F'arts  will  be  lurnishccl  in  books 
of  riFTV  CFSTS  each  lor  pay  in  advance  ;  the  affixed  prices  nf  Ihe  Parts  being  ukdvced  in 
amount,  cqnal  to  the  amount  of  the  postage.  Th  'sc  therefore  wlo  order  the  parts  at  Si,  or  the 
selected  parts  at  .'iO  ct3  get  them  at  a  reduction  of  price  in  either  sizes  equal  to  the  poiitaire  they 
have  to  pay  on  the  same.  The  liberality  of  this  offer  it  is  presumed  will  be  as  liberally  retpond- 
ed  to  by  those  who. n  it  was  especially  iiileaded  to  ben'^'it. 


VA. 
PUBLISHED    BY    A.   S.   BARNES,    AND    Co. 
61  JOHN  STREET,  NEW  YORK. 


WILLARD'S  HISTORICAL  WORKS. 

WrLLARD'S.HISTORV  OF   THE  UNITED   StATES   OR  RE- 
PUUMO  OF    AMERICA.— CominRncing   with  its    Discovory."  and 
brought  down  in  the  death  of  Goneral  Harrison. — ItlilstratV' ' 
graphic  Chart,  a  Chronological  Taiiii^,  and  a  Series  of 
fidavo.  

WILLARD'.^  iiioiOaY  OF  THE  UNITED  .Siv.j.t.,  OR  RE- 
PUBLIC OF  AMERICA.— Abhidged  for  Scbools.— Illustrated 
with  Maps  and  Engravings.       

WILLARD'S  UNIVERSAL  HISTORY— Illustrated  by  a  Chrono- 
logical Picture  of  Nations,  or  Perspective  Sketch  of  the  Course  of 
Empire,  and  a  Series  of  Maps,  giving  tlie  Progressive  Geography  of  the 
World.    1  vol.  octavo. 

DAVIES'  SySTEM  OF  MATHEMATICS. 

The  following  Works,  form  a  compl'te  Elementary  course  of  Alafhe- 
'  matics,  and  are  desii^ncd  us  introdi'dorif  to  the  advanced  course  by 
\\  the  same  author.  They  are  all  adapted  to  each  other,  and  tliase  of  the 
jl  advanced  course,  can  be  studied  to  greater  advantage,  when  the  Ele- 
}      maitary  ones  are  understood, 

DAVIES'  FIRST  LESSONS  IN  ARITHMETIC— Designed  for  Be- 
ginners,  or  the  first  steps  of  a  course  of  Arithme'  :?al  instruction. 

|!  DAVIES'  ARITHMETIC It  is  the  object  of  this  work,  to  explain  in  s 

clear  and  brief  manner,  the  properties  of  •:  miners,  and  the  best  rules  foi 
their  practical  application. 

KEY  TO  DAVIES'  ARITHMETIC,  with  the  addition  of  numerous 
examples. 

DAVIES'  ALGEBRA. — Embracing  the  first  principles  of  the  science. 

KEY  TO  DAVIES'  ALGEBRA,— For  the  use  of  Teachers. 

DAVIES'  ELEMENTARY  GEOML  FRY— This  work  embraces  th« 
elementary  principles  of  Geometry,  The  reasoning  is  plain  and  concise, 
but,  at  the  same  time,  strictly  rigorcu? 

i  DAVIES'  ELEMENTS  of  DRAWING  and  MENSURATION,— 
With  applications  in  ARCniTECTuri  .  Artificers'  Work,  and  Me- 
chanical PiiiLosoi'Hv.     Designed  for  the  use  of  Practical  Men. 


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